Transcript Document

WHY WE DON’T
OBSERVE
THE SABBATH
What is the Sabbath?
• From Hebrew, “Shabbath”
& Greek, “Sabbaton” “to desist, to rest”
• A weekly day of rest
appointed for Israel,
between God and them.
What is the Sabbath?
• It was a holy day
(Ex. 20:8-11, Deut.
5:12-15)
• No work could be done
(Ex. 31:15)
• “A holy convocation to the
Lord” (Lev. 23:3)
What is the Sabbath?
• Term can have reference
to a “week”
see Luke 18:2
What is the Sabbath?
• “First day of the week”,
lit. “First of the Sabbath”
Matthew 28:1, Acts 20:7,
1 Cor. 16:2
• Time was counted by
Sabbaths in these texts.
Days were numbered with the
Sabbath in mind See Mark
16:1-2
Who was the Sabbath For?
• Scriptures CLEARLY
demonstrate it was
intended for Israel.
• First mention, Ex. 16:2326 Manna provided.
Special instructions given
th
on 6 day collection.
Who was the Sabbath For?
• Next mention, the 10
Commandments,
Ex. 20:8-11
Instituted as a day of rest.
th
God rested on 7 day, etc.
Who was the Sabbath For?
• Exodus 31:12-18, ,
“And the Lord spoke to Moses,
saying, "Speak also to the
children of Israel, saying:
'Surely My Sabbaths you shall
keep, for it is a sign between
Me and you throughout your
generations, that you may
know that I am the Lord who
sanctifies you.” …
Who was the Sabbath For?
• Exodus 31:12-18, ,
“…Therefore the children of
Israel shall keep the Sabbath,
to observe the Sabbath
throughout their generations
as a perpetual covenant. It is
a sign between Me and the
children of Israel forever;”
Who was the Sabbath For?
• Deut. 4:11-14,
“…So He declared to you
His covenant which He
commanded you to perform,
the Ten Commandments;…”
Who was the Sabbath For?
• Deut. 5:1-5,
“And Moses called all Israel,
and said to them…The Lord
our God made a covenant
with us in Horeb. The Lord
did not make this covenant
with our fathers, but with
us, those who are here
today, all of us who are
alive.”
Who was the Sabbath For?
• Ezekiel 20:10-12,
“…And I gave them My
statutes and showed them
My judgments, 'which, if a
man does, he shall live by
them.' Moreover I also gave
them My Sabbaths, to be a
sign between them and Me”
Who was the Sabbath For?
• Ezekiel 20:18-20,
“…Walk in My statutes, keep
My judgments, and do them;
hallow My Sabbaths, and
they will be a sign between
Me and you, that you may
know that I am the Lord your
God.'”
Who was the Sabbath For?
• The Sabbath was part of the
Law of Moses
• Deut. 4:13 “So He declared to
you His covenant which He
commanded you to perform,
the Ten Commandments; and
He wrote them on two tablets
of stone.”
Who was the Sabbath For?
• A new law promised
• Jer. 31:31-34 "Behold, the days
are coming, says the Lord, when I
will make a new covenant with
the house of Israel and with the
house of Judah — not according
to the covenant that I made with
their fathers in the day that I took
them by the hand to lead them out
of the land of Egypt, My covenant
which they broke,…
Who was the Sabbath For?
• The Old Law done away with
• Matt. 5:17-18, Jesus came
to fulfill the Old Law;
See Luke 24:44
Who was the Sabbath For?
• The Old Law done away with
• Col. 2:13-14, Eph. 2:14-17
“For He Himself is our peace, who
has made both one, and has
broken down the middle wall of
separation, having abolished in His
flesh the enmity, that is, the law of
commandments contained in
ordinances,…
Who was the Sabbath For?
• The Old Law done away with
• Col. 2:13-14, Eph. 2:1417 “…so as to create in Himself
one new man from the two, thus
making peace, and that He might
reconcile them both to God in one
body through the cross, thereby
putting to death the enmity.”
Who was the Sabbath For?
• The Old Law done away with
• 2 Corinthians 3
– Vs. 3 - Tablets of stone – the
10 Commandments
– Vs. 6 – the letter kills, but the
Spirit gives life
– Vs. 7-8 – Ministry of death,
written and engraved on
stones.
Who was the Sabbath For?
• The Old Law done away with
• 2 Corinthians 3
– Vs. 11 – What faded away
was glorious, what remains is
more glorious
– Vs. 12-18 – the Old Law
was as a veil, symbolizing
their hardened hearts.
Removed in Christ, taken
away
What do we do?
• We are under the New Law
and follow its instructions!
• Rom. 1:16, Heb. 8:13
What do we do?
• Do we keep 9 of the 10
commandments?
• NO! We do not keep ANY of
the 10 commandments.
However, 9 of them are
repeated in the New Law.
What do we do?
• We do NOT observe the
Sabbath!
• But we DO assemble on the
first day of the week!
What do we do?
• Why first day of the week?
• The day our Lord arose - Matt.
28:1
• The day the church began –
Acts 2:1, Pentecost
• The Lord’s Supper – Ac. 20:7
• Giving - 1 Cor. 16:2
• The Lord’s Day – Rev. 20:10
What do we do?
• Was the Sabbath changed to first day
of the week by the Pope or by an
emperor? NO!
• There is evidence, it was recognized
from the beginning.
“But Sunday is the day on which we all
hold our common assembly, because
it is the first day on which God, having
wrought a change in the darkness and
matter, made the world; and Jesus
Christ our Saviour on the same day
rose from the dead.”
Justin Martyr (103-165 AD)
The “Christian Sabbath”
• Some contend that Sunday is
“the Christian Sabbath”
• This is NOT a Biblical concept.
In New Testament the Sabbath
was NEVER mentioned with
assembly of the church!
• We are not restricted to
Sabbath regulations!
The “Christian Sabbath”
• “If there is any Biblical sense
in which one could speak of a
“Christian Sabbath” it would
be speaking of heaven, for
this is the ‘rest’ promised to
Christians after our labors
and trials are over.”
Heb. 4:9-11, Rev. 14:13
Let us resolve to NOT
return to the
Law of Moses and its
precepts!
Gal. 5:4
Will you follow the New
Covenant of hope?