toldailytopic: The Sabbath: what is it's significance? Do you observe it? Why or why

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Nathon Detroit

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The TheologyOnline.com TOPIC OF THE DAY for February 25th, 2011 09:19 AM


toldailytopic: The Sabbath: what is it's significance? Do you observe it? Why or why not?






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SaulToPaul 2

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The Sabbath signified, or pointed towards, the thousand year reign of Jesus Christ on the earth.

John 5:17 (KJV)

God will rest.
 

ghost

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The Sabbath was established by God for men to rest from their works. Exodus 20:8-11

Jesus tells us that the Sabbath was made for man, and that man was not made for the Sabbath. Mark 2:27

In other words, the rest is God's doing and we enter into it.

When Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, He said that "It is finished".
Jesus is our Sabbath rest. We, being crucified with Christ and having died with Him, rest from our works, just as He rested from His, whereas He sat down at the right hand of God. Heb 10:12

"For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His." Heb 4:10

Many believe that they must continue to do works to be acceptable or "right" with God, and so they refuse to enter into His rest, which is a rejection of His works and His righteousness in Christ. They have never obeyed the Gospel.

"And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard." Heb 3:18-4:2

"So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience." Heb 4:9-11

Jesus is my Sabbath rest which I entered into when I believed the Gospel.
 

Sherman

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Do I keep a Sabbath?--Yes. Let me explain:

Our bodies are set up with a seven day clock. It needs at least one day of rest in that seven day period. People begin to suffer from stress related diseases if not given a rest day. God intentionally designed us that way. The significance: Six days God created, and on the seventh day He rested. --not six time periods--six literal days. Legalistic people will argue that day should be Saturday. During the old testament period it was. During the New Testament period, the day shifted to Sunday. I'll admit I am no scholar on that subject. The important issue is that a person needs a Sabbath day of rest once a week. :)
 

rocketman

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Entering into grace through faith in Christ is our Sabbath as it is written:

Heb. 4:1 ¶ Let us fear therefore, lest perhaps a promise being left of entering into His rest, anyone of you should seem to have come short of it.
Heb. 4:2 For indeed we have had good news preached to us, even as they also did, but the word they heard didn’t profit them, because it wasn’t mixed with faith by those who heard.
Heb. 4:3 For we who have believed do enter into that rest, even as He has said, “As I swore in my wrath, they will not enter into My rest;” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Heb. 4:4 For He has said this somewhere about the seventh day, “God rested on the seventh day from all His works;”
Heb. 4:5 and in this place again, “They will not enter into My rest.”
Heb. 4:6 ¶ Seeing therefore it remains that some should enter therein, and they to whom the good news was before preached failed to enter in because of disobedience,
Heb. 4:7 He again defines a certain day, today, saying through David so long a time afterward (just as has been said),
“Today if you will hear His voice,
Don’t harden your hearts.”
Heb. 4:8 ¶ For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken afterward of another day.
Heb. 4:9 There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
Heb. 4:10 For he who has entered into His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.
Heb. 4:11 Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience.

We rest in the Finished work of Jesus Christ.
 

steko

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The commandment to keep the seventh day Sabbath was specifically required in the contract/covenant between GOD and the nation of Israel. If anyone else wants to keep it, then it's their business, but I find no obligation or comandment from GOD for me to do so. I know that I benefit when I take time during the week to let go of everything and seek the LORD, but that happens nearly everyday.


Deu 5:2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
Deu 5:3 The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.

Deu 5:6 I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

Deu 5:15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.


Concerning gentile believers, I can't find instructions for them to keep the Sabbath/seventh day as commanded to Israel. I know Jews and Gentiles that do keep it. That's their choice to make, however if one is going to keep the seventh day legalistically, then one is just as much obligated to work the other six days legalistically, including the first day which I regard as a day to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

Deu 5:13 Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work:

Act 15:19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:
Act 15:20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood


The word 'trouble' in verse 19 is parenochléō which means to 'annoy or harass'. I tend to feel annoyed when people try to harness me up in their legalistic systems.

Rom 14:5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
 

SaulToPaul 2

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So... do you observe the Sabbath?

No sir. I esteem everyday the same.


Just another note about the Sabbath:


Heb 4
1: Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
2: For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
3: For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
4: For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
5: And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.


Yes, the members of the Body of Christ are at rest in Christ. But, the Sabbath pointed to a future time when God would rest from all of his works...the 7th day, the Millenium.


Again,

John 5
16: And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
17: But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.


:e4e:
 

elohiym

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The commandment to keep the seventh day Sabbath was specifically required in the contract/covenant between GOD and the nation of Israel.

Violating the fourth commandment is still a sin, just like violating the other nine commandments on the stone tablets is still sin. There is no point to attempt to tease out the fourth commandment from the rest to dimish it. It will remain true that God sanctified the seventh day specifically before there were Jews or laws.

Point: God specifically sanctified the seventh day of the week. Unless you can prove that specific day of the week was somehow unsanctified, I have no reason to assume the specific day is no longer sanctified for me.

If anyone else wants to keep it, then it's their business, but I find no obligation or comandment from GOD for me to do so.

Jesus said, "if you love me, keep my commandments." How do you tease out sabbath breaking from murder, adultery, idolatry, coveting, etc?

I know that I benefit when I take time during the week to let go of everything and seek the LORD, but that happens nearly everyday.

Maybe the reason for remembering "the sabbath day to sanctify it" isn't about what it does for you, but what it does by its witness to others. Paul called the sabbath day a "shadow of things to come" (future tense); and he was referring, I'm sure, to the future prophecies that depicts the sabbath being kept in some form by all people (Isa 66:23). It's possible that the remaining shadows in holy days (seventh-day sabbath) and rituals (Lord's Supper) are for the benefit of those they witness to. And if that's the case, it is inappropriate to forget the shadow before it has been fulfilled for all. I know few people that call themselves Christian who actually believe the gospel, few that have entered into God's rest; perhaps they need to seek a practical understanding of the shadow that will lead them to Christ.

Concerning gentile believers, I can't find instructions for them to keep the Sabbath/seventh day as commanded to Israel.

Heb 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

And Jesus said, speaking of a time decades after his death and resurrection:

Mat 24:20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

I know Jews and Gentiles that do keep it. That's their choice to make, however if one is going to keep the seventh day legalistically, then one is just as much obligated to work the other six days legalistically, including the first day which I regard as a day to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

I don't see an obligation to labor six days in that law, just an obligation to rest from servile labor on a specific day as a perpetual shadow for all the world to see. Indeed, it was that specific perpetual shadow of the seventh-day sabbath that led me to Christ.

Act 15:19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:
Act 15:20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood

I don't see the point you are trying to make with those verses. Can you elaborate?

The word 'trouble' in verse 19 is parenochléō which means to 'annoy or harass'. I tend to feel annoyed when people try to harness me up in their legalistic systems.

Well, if suggesting that you keep a shadow based on scriptural evidence is to 'annoy or harass,' then what is telling murderers and other sinners to repent? Sabbath breaking is a death penalty offense in God's book.

Rom 14:5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

You appear to be assuming that verse has something to do with the seventh day sabbath. It doesn't. God esteemed the seventh day; He sanctified that specific days, and has never unsanctified it. The shadow of the seventh day sabbath is very much about sanctification.
 

Ktoyou

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yes and no. I do not keep to the custom of the Sabbath, but I do rest in Christ.
 

Glenda

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Sabbath is one of the most wonderful laws of love God has ever given. It promotes the restful welfare of workers whose welfare needs are frequently overlooked ... servants are given the day off and thank God ... and that's exactly what I do on sabbath ... rest and thank God for His loving laws which promote my welfare :)

Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
 

Todah

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The TheologyOnline.com TOPIC OF THE DAY for February 25th, 2011 09:19 AM


toldailytopic: The Sabbath: what is it's significance? Do you observe it? Why or why not?





Wow, what a question? It is significant in that it was a day made for us to "rest" from our six days of work and normal activities, and to turn our focus to God, and the things of God.

It is also significant in that it is a day that sets me up for a lot of scorn, and disapproving looks and remarks from my fellow "believers", in the death, burial, and resurrection, of Jesus Christ, or Yeshua, His name in Hebrew, which He answered to, while He walked this earth.

My Sabbath begins in about 45 minutes at sundown here in Colorado, on the seventh day of the week.

I find four simple commands in the Bible, to keep the Sabbath.
1. Rest from your work.
2. Refrain from buying and selling.
3. Kindle no fires.
4. Refrain from my own pleasures, to concentrate on the things of God.

I am a self employed carpenter, so I am able to keep the first one.

I sometimes buy gasoline or food on the Sabbath. Gas out of necessity, food out of pure desire.

I almost always kindle the fire of my internal combustion engine, on the way to the abortion clinic, followed by my return trip to our place of worship, on the Sabbath. I am fairly certain, God is pleased with me anyways!

I love to concentrate on God and be with His people throughout most of the day, on the Sabbath. We have worship service, lunch together, with bible study following, from 10 AM to 4 PM.

It is a wonderful time. It truly is a day of peace...... shalom.......and rest.

I often, then go home and do 'resort' to my own pleasures of watching sports on TV, or a good old movie, on DVD.

I observe the Sabbath because Yeshua said if you love Me, you will keep my commandments.

I am not perfect at keeping any of His commandments, but I endeavor at keeping them, out of love, and thankfulness, for His grace and His mercy towards me.
 

Jacob

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I observe the sabbath, though I do not believe myself to be under the law but instead under grace.

The command to observe the sabbath is one of the ten commandments.

The sabbath is the seventh day of the week, the day following six days of labor, in which we rest from the work of our hands, our toil (labor).

Genesis 2:2 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

Genesis 2:3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

Hebrews 4:4 For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: "AND GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS";

Hebrews 4:10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.
 

keypurr

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If the sabbath (seventh day) means something to God, why should it not mean something to us?
 

Buzzword

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I'm still not sure what "observing the Sabbath" even means.

Am I not allowed to do homework on the seventh day of the week?
My grades would be down the toilet if I wasted a whole day, especially given how much procrastinating I do the rest of the week.

My wife has class every Saturday because she's trying to graduate this coming May.

My dad works on Saturday because it's the busiest shopping day of the week, and thus he gets more customers during the 8 hours he's open on Saturdays than several other days of the week combined.
 
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