Firstly,
there
are many references to God's Holy Sabbath in both the Old and New Testaments.
Read Tract - 'Seventh Day Sabbath!'
I believe that one of the marks of a true Christian is keeping the Sabbath day Holy,
where we rest from all our work, and spend extra time in fellowship with
God and His Son Jesus Christ, through Praise and Worship: including Music, Prayer and Bible Study.
This means that our focus is on God, who is first love and first priority in
our lives and He takes pre-eminence.
We show God that our spiritual goals are of greatest importance, and that we do not
love the world or anything that is in the world, because the physical things
of this world (such as money) are temporary and passing away; but He who
does the will of God lives forever.
1 John 2:15 -
Do not love the
world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the
Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful
man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not
from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but
the man who does the will of God lives forever.
Matthew 6:24 - “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate
the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the
other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
* We must
observe God's Sabbath and keep it holy.
Exodus 35:2-3 -
For six
days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a
Sabbath of rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it must be put to
death. Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day."
* Blessed Day of rest dedicated to God.
Exodus
20:10-11 -
but the seventh
day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work,
neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor
your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the
LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but
he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and
made it holy.
* Observed on the seventh day, that is, from Friday evening to Saturday evening.
SunriseandSunset
Leviticus 23:3 -
The
Sabbath “‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day
of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work;
wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the LORD.
* We spend extra time in fellowship
with God through various forms of praise and worship including prayer and bible study.
Deuteronomy 5:12-15 -
"Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has
commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the
seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any
work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or
maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the
alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest,
as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your
God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.
Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.
* Jesus Christ kept the Sabbath Day holy.
Luke 4:16 - He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up,
and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And
he stood up to read.
* Jesus Christ is Lord of the Sabbath.
Matthew 12:8
-
For the Son of Man is
Lord of the Sabbath."
* Christ came to fulfill the Law, not to abolish it.
Matthew 5:17
-
[ The Fulfillment of the
Law ] “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I
have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
* Sabbath must be kept & respected under any circumstance.
Commandments For Sabbath:
* Observe the Sabbath
Day.
Exodus 31:14 -
“‘Observe the
Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to
death; those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people.
* Keep the Sabbath Day holy.
Exodus 20:8 -
“Remember the Sabbath day by
keeping it holy.
* Day of rest (no work).
Exodus 20:10 -
but the seventh
day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work,
neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor
your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.
* Kindle no fire. (Food must be prepared the day before as we are
forbidden to cook on this day).
Exodus 16:23 -
He said
to them, "This is what the LORD commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of
rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil
what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.' "
* No idle words.
Isaiah 58:13-14 - "If you keep your feet from breaking
the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the
Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable, and if you honor it
by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle
words, then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to
ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your
father Jacob." The mouth of the LORD has spoken.
* Day of Bible Study.
Luke 4:16 - He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up,
and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And
he stood up to read.
* Jesus commands and encourages us to do good deeds on the Sabbath,
especially if a situation arises.
Matthew 12:12 - How much more valuable is a person than a sheep!
Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
* Christ performed
many miracles and healings on the Sabbath.
For example:
Man with the shriveled hand.
Matthew 12:13 -
Then he said to the man,
“Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and
it was completely restored, just as sound as the other.
A demon-possessed man.
Luke 4:33-36 - In the synagogue there
was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of
his voice, “Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have
you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
“Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly.
“Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all
and came out without injuring him. All the people were amazed and said to
each other, “What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders
to impure spirits and they come out!” And the news about him spread
throughout the surrounding area.
A crippled woman.
Luke 13:10-13 -
On a Sabbath Jesus was
teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been
crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not
straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to
her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.”
Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and
praised God.
* Jesus taught on
the Sabbath.
Luke 4:31 -
Then he went down to
Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people.
* The disciples were eating on the Sabbath, therefore the weekly Sabbath is
not a day of absolute fasting (abstaining totally from food).
Matthew 12:1 -
[ Jesus Is Lord of the
Sabbath ] At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath.
His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat
them.
* Although there were
occasions in the Old Testament where the people held a fast for seven days
including the Sabbath.
1 Samuel 31:13 -
Then they
took their bones and buried them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they
fasted seven days.
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