-My friend, a Seventh
Day
Adventist
believes that the seventh day of the week.(Saturday).should
be a day of no work dedicated to God and kept holy and says that the Bible
commands this for New Testament believers. I feel uncomfortable with this
but am willing to follow what the Bible says. Is the Sabbath for
New Testament believers in Emmanuel the Christ?
Some folks think that if
they wear their best clothes on Sunday they're observing the Sabbath!
The Sabbath was a
rest day God created.(Genesis
2:1-3).in
the which those back then were to take this time to remember God, to focus
on the things of God a time for spiritual
things. It was a day of rest to commemorate
God by having the mind on God.
Some think that since the
Bible
says God doesn't change.(Malachi
3:6).that
the Sabbath is still to be kept. In Old Testament times, penalty of death
occurred for breaking the Sabbath:.Numbers
15:32-36..Does
God change?
A quote from some Sabbath
adherents,.the
Seventh.(Saturday).Day
Adventists:
"The beneficent
Creator, after the six days of Creation, rested on the seventh day and
instituted the Sabbath for all people as a memorial of Creation. The fourth
commandment of God's unchangeable law requires the observance of this seventh
day Sabbath as the day of rest, worship and ministry in harmony with the
teaching and practice of Emmanuel, the Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath
is a day of delightful communion with God and one another. It is a symbol
of our redemption in Christ, a sign of our sanctification, a token of our
allegiance and a foretaste of our eternal future in God's kingdom. The
Sabbath is God's perpetual sign of His eternal covenant between Him and
His people. Joyful observance of this holy time from evening to evening,
sunset to sunset, is a celebration of God's creative and redemptive acts."
I too used to be a 'Saturday
Sabbath keeper' although not of the Seventh Day Adventist group. I kept
it and even lost out on some good jobs because of it, because I, as a babe
in Christ, believed that we should keep it, because of what those teaching
it believed:.Galatians
4:4,5,9,10. I should have.(had
I known back then).followed
what Paul said in Galatians
3:1-3; 4:9-12,19 and
what
Emmanuel said...
The sabbath typifies
the rest we have in Christ:.Hebrews
4.8-11.
Perhaps I too was one of
those who Paul says 'these are not yet fully formed in Christ' and now
is the time appointed for them to move forward:.Galatians
4:2,3,19.
Some still laboring under
legalism
will have a struggle accepting all this.(Galatians
4:29).to
break free from the yoke
of bondage Paul talks about:.Galatians
5:1; 2Corinthians 3:7,17.
There is not one verse in
the New
Testament mentioning Sabbath keeping after Emmanuel
kept it before His death, burial and resurrection, ushering in the new
covenant.
In fact Paul tells us in
Colossians
2:16,17 that those within the body of Christ.(believers
in whom resides the Spirit of Christ:.Colossians
1:24,27).should
not allow influence by others regarding it, as the Sabbath and the
Old
Testament Holy Days were only a shadow of much greater things to come.(Christ).
So, again the quote by the
Seventh Day Adventists, this with some comments:
"The beneficent Creator,
after the six days of Creation, rested on the seventh day and instituted
the Sabbath for all people as a memorial of Creation. The fourth commandment
of God's unchangeable law.(Here
it's spoken of as a law unable to be changed. The law way back then was
the Mosaic Law. Why did they not mention this? It's not mentioned that
this fourth commandment was part of this Old Testament law required to
keep
back then, this Mosaic Law which was later completely
and totally abolished and that long before any group would espouse
it and/or parts of it as one of their tenets).requires.(So,
it's said that there is a requirement to observe it and if not, is the
death penalty for non observance applicable as was the case for Mosaic
Law violation?.Exodus
31:14,15).the
observance of this seventh day Sabbath as the day of rest.(Hebrews
4:8-11), worship and ministry in
harmony with the teaching and practice of Emmanuel.(well,
if you've read through it throughly, you've seen that this Sabbath keeping
is like any of the other Old Testament Mosaic Laws which have all been
abolished and are absolutely not in harmony with the teachng and practice
of Emmanuel), the Lord of the Sabbath.(the
lesson of the Lord of the Sabbath:.Matthew
12:3-8). The Sabbath is a day of
delightful communion with God and one another.(but
so is every other day if one knows how to pray
and meditate). It is a symbol of
our redemption in Christ, a sign of our sanctification, a token of our
allegiance and a foretaste of our eternal future in God's kingdom.(They
are saying here that the Sabbath day is a symbol
of our redemption in Christ {1Corinthians
1:30; Ephesians 1:7}, but far
and away more important than a symbol, is the actuality:.Hebrews
10:16-20. Symbols of spirituality are not above the importance of a
humble heart:.Isaiah
66:2. And non symbols of spirituality are those adhering to a non.relevant
symbol. It's Christ and not the Sabbath day that is our redemption. Symbols,
signs and tokens are things reminding us of what they represent. If Christ
is in ones's heart, why then the lower in importance symbols, signs and
tokens?). The Sabbath is God's perpetual
sign of His eternal covenant between Him and His people.(A
sign to who? Was it all not a thing of the heart to begin with?.Deuteronomy
5:29. They here say, it's between God and His people, but does God
need a sign as to what He's doing? And do the people need some sign? Does
such a sign pass on with them? Does what such a sign may connote, carry
on in their minds, once they are gone? Here these Adventists are speaking
of a perpetual sign of an eternal covenant. They must mean the new covenant,
because the old one has been abolished. Important to come to know what
the
new covenant is. As to a sign, it was the mark of a Pharisee:.Matthew
16:1-4; Luke 11:29,30. So what
did they use to come up with this 'perpetual sign'?).
Joyful observance of this holy time from evening to evening, sunset to
sunset, is a celebration of God's creative and redemptive acts..(Adventists
use a time between sunset on Friday and the next sunset on Saturday the
seventh day of the week to celebrate God's creative and redemptive acts.
All well and good if they choose that day and others are fine with Sunday
or some other day or each day:.Romans
14:4-6)"
The Old Testament writings
by the
prophet.Isaiah
talked of sacrifices like many religious people unnecessarily make today:.Isaiah
1:11-17 "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me,
says the Lord.(obviously
these practices were strictly for selfish reasons of the participants,
even though probably for a sop,
they liked to make them appear spiritual by bringing God into it, that
is, in their minds only)? I
am full of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts and I
delight not in the blood of bullocks or of lambs or of he goats. When you
come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand, to tread
my courts? Bring no more vain
oblations.(something
offered); incense is an abomination
unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot
away with.(or,
'I can't stand all that stuff); it
is iniquity,
even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul
hates. They are a trouble unto me. I am weary to bear them. And when you
spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you. Yea, when you
make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.(in
other words you're lacking qualities of spirituality, you're lacking attributes
of love, which are the attributes of a higher consciousness than the selfish,
greedy, angry and warring and evil deeds low consciousness mind you are
wrapped up in). Wash yourself, make
youself clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes;
cease to do evil; learn
to do well; seek judgment,
relieve
the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow."
The
sacrifices for today are...
The rest for Christians.(what's
really
a Christian?).is
one that is in Him, Him who fulfilled all the righteousness of all
spiritual laws.(Matthew
3:15;
5:17).and
is a rest into which we today
enter by belief, by faith in Emmanuel the Christ.(Hebrews
4:3), meaning we believe in what
He did and came
to reveal.
In this we cease from our
own works.(doing
things which God no longer requires, things
as in the Old Testament).to
be righteous and has nothing to do with any lack of physical effort on
any particular day:.Hebrews
4:9,10. Once in His rest, one is 'not working' if he or she
may work on the seventh day of the week:.Matthew
11:30.
Hebrews
4:3,5,6 shows how important this form of rest is. Those who keep the
Sabbath today, do it believing this makes a point of obedience thus 'pleasing'
God.
In these works of their
own righteousness.(as
they are no longer required by God since Christ has risen and ushered in
the new covenant to do with the heart).they.(by
actions).prefer
physical Sabbath keeping to the rest in Emmanuel the Christ, thus denying
Him:.Titus
1:16.
Paul refers to these works.(Colossians
1:20,21).as
works of painful persuasions
as it was effort to prepare beforehand so as to be sure not to do any work
on the Sabbath Day felt should still be celebrated. What's important is
to be happy about Christ
in you
The whole Sabbath Day thing
today comes about as a result of not understanding that we too are 'Lord
of the Sabbath'.(Mark
2:28; Luke 6:1-5),
because we are now
equal with the
Great Infinite Intelligence and are as
important to God as Christ.
Nothing.but
God's Son Emmanuel the Christ and His righteousness in you by
faith is pleasing to God, for all things come from this:.Matthew
3:17; Hebrews 11:6; Matthew
17:5; 2Peter 1:17.
Those strong in.their.own
works, are really unbelievers and unable to enter the rest in Christ:.Hebrews
3:18,19.
Paul in Hebrews
4:2 and in context,
emphasizes that the gospel
doesn't profit one by Sabbath keeping, only by belief.
In Philippians
3:6-10 Paul calls the righteousness one gains from law including
the so-called ten commandments, dung.
To know Christ, one has to have the righteousness of faith, not the law:.Philippians
3:9,10.
Emmanuel's custom was to
keep the Sabbath.(Luke
4:16).as
the old
covenant was still in effect and He was to fulfil all righteousness
as shown above.
He
was born under the law. Christ created the Sabbath:.John
1:3; Hebrews 1:10; Mark
2:23,28.
Isaiah
56th chapter talks of things that then pleased God.(verse
4).including
Sabbath keeping as part of serving Him and taking hold of the old covenant:.verse
6. There were blessings then for keeping the Sabbath part of the old
covenant properly:.Isaiah
58:13,14. But a drastically
different story in these times of the new covenant:.Galatians
4:21-26.
The Roman armies so devasted
the Old Testament religion at the time, that it could
never
recover, thankfully! Yet today some religious groups
are into resurrecting parts of it. Like duh! Who's teaching you?.John
6:45.
If you wish to have a
day set aside for spiritual concerns, that's up to you:.Romans
14:5-10,13,14. It is not a requirement to be in the Creator's favor.
