Sabbath Observance? Part 2

What Does The New Testament Say About The Sabbath?

(This is the second part of a three-part article regarding whether Christians should observe the Old Testament Sabbath holy day.

The New Testament provides information about the Sabbath.

The New Testament provides information about the Sabbath.

We have seen in the previous article how there is no indication in the Old Testament that the Sabbath was intended for all of mankind.  With that in mind, what relationship did Jesus have with the Sabbath?  Christ came into this world as a Jew born under the Law of Moses (Gal. 4:4), which would stay in effect until his death (Heb. 8:7-13; 9:15-17).  In order to be our High Priest, he had to live a sinless life, which he did (Heb. 4:15-16).  In order to live a sinless life, he would have had to have observed the Law of Moses perfectly (Rom. 4:15; 1 John 3:4), which would include observing the Sabbath.  Thus, he taught in the synagogues on the Sabbath (cf. Mark 1:21) and observed it perfectly as a Jew.

However, his actions on the Sabbath were controversial to some of his Jewish peers.  He allowed his Jewish disciples to pluck grain on the Sabbath in order to eat (Matt. 12:1-2), and he miraculously healed the sick on the Sabbath (cf. Luke 13:10-14).  The Jewish leaders thought this to be a violation of the command to rest on the Sabbath, but Jesus countered his critics’ objections by showing their ignorance of the Law of Moses (Matt. 12:3-7) and pointing out their own inconsistencies (Luke 13:14-16).  By doing so, he showed himself to be Lord even of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8).  It is noteworthy that Jesus as the Lord of the Sabbath never extended the Sabbath to Gentile nations.  As a Jew obligated by God under the Law of Moses to observe the Sabbath along with other Jews, there is no indication in Scripture that he ever commanded the same of Gentiles.

After his death, resurrection, and ascension, what relationship did his apostles have with the Sabbath?  During Jesus’ life, he prophesied that the Romans would destroy the temple and Jerusalem during their generation, something which took place in 70 A.D. (Matt. 24:1-34)  Even though this would be after God had taken the Law of Moses out of the way, non-Christian Jews would still be observing the Sabbath that year.  Therefore, they would have the gates of Jerusalem shut on the Sabbath (Neh. 13:19), thus providing an obstacle to Christians wanting to escape the destruction.  Thus, the Holy Spirit inspired the apostle Matthew to record in his gospel the instruction Jesus gave to his followers that they pray that their flight from the destruction of Jerusalem not occur “in winter or on a Sabbath” (Matt. 24:20).  However, notice that Christ’s instructions to his apostles here do not indicate whether God still bound the Sabbath under the Christian dispensation.

The book of Acts brings out in several places how the apostle Paul utilized the Sabbath during his evangelistic efforts (cf. Acts 17:1-3).  He knew the Jews would be in the synagogue on the Sabbath Day, so he had the habit to enter the synagogues on Sabbaths and teach them about Jesus.  However, this also does not indicate whether God wanted all Christians to observe the Sabbath like the Jews did in the Old Testament.

In fact, Paul and the other inspired apostles and prophets taught that the Law of Moses, including the Sabbath, had to come to an end.  Paul taught that the Jews had spiritually died to the Law of Moses when they became Christians (Rom. 7:4-7), and that Jesus had ended the Law of Moses with its ordinances when he died on the cross (Eph. 2:13-16; Col. 2:14).  This led him to conclude via divine inspiration that the Law of Moses and its ordinances like the Sabbath and other Jewish holy days could not be bound on others, especially Gentiles (Col. 2:16-17).  Paul also wrote that those who think they are justified by observing the Law of Moses have fallen away from grace and would be obligated to obey all the Old Testament commands, not just certain ones (Gal. 5:3-4).  Therefore, those who teach that it is God’s will under the New Testament to observe the Sabbath Day and keep it holy as he had commanded under the Old Testament (like the Seventh-Day Adventists teach) are obligated to offer animal sacrifices, burn incense, and observe and obey all other Old Testament commands…all to no avail from an eternal perspective, since they would have fallen from grace.

Fortunately, the New Testament teaches that a new, superior covenant has replaced the Old Testament covenant, which was the Law of Moses and which included the Ten Commandments and the Sabbath Day commandment (Heb. 8:6-7, 13).  Paul wrote to the Corinthians about the new covenant replacing the old (2 Cor. 3:6-11).  Did you notice how he called the old covenant “the ministry of death carved in letters on stone” (2 Cor. 3:7)?  That is an obvious reference to the Ten Commandments, including the commandment to keep the Sabbath Day holy…yet God inspired Paul to tell Christians that this was “the ministry of death” which was replaced by the new covenant.

The above is blatant, biblical proof that the Sabbath is not something God has commanded Christians to observe.  This is why the apostles taught that observing the Sabbath was no longer necessary.  Granted, it is true that Jewish Christians in the first century A.D. continued to observe elements of the Law of Moses.  Paul himself did so at times in order to not offend his Jewish peers (Acts 21:20-26).  However, he and the other apostles drew a clear line when they taught that the Law of Moses could not be bound on Gentiles (Acts 15:1-2, 19-20, 28-29) and that obeying the Law of Moses would not bring anyone salvation (Gal. 5:4; Rom. 3:28).  If an individual Christian desired to privately set apart a day as holy (like the Sabbath Day, for example), that was between the individual and God (Rom. 14:5-6, 22).  However, it was not something that God wanted the church as a whole to do (Gal. 4:9-11), and those within the church who would promote such are “false brothers”trying to either wittingly or unwittingly bring the church back into spiritual slavery (Gal. 2:3-5; 5:1).

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The Sabbath Day – Part 1

Should We Keep The Sabbath Day Holy?: Part 1

(This is the first part of a three-part article regarding whether Christians should observe the Old Testament Sabbath holy day. )

What do Christians have to do with the Sabbath?

What do Christians have to do with the Sabbath?

Evolutionists can claim otherwise, but it is a fact that God created this world and this universe in six literal days, and then rested on the seventh day (Gen. 2:1-2).  Then, at some later point, God blessed the seventh day and set it apart from the other days (Gen. 2:3).  “But Jon,” you might be saying, “didn’t God make the seventh day holy right then on the seventh day?  After all, we read of it happening right there in the beginning of Genesis.”  This article is going to explore whether that is true, but for now let’s talk a little more about that seventh day.

The seventh day later became known as “the Sabbath Day.”  “Sabbath” is transliterated from the Hebrew word shabbath, which means “to rest from labor.”  The Greek word is sabbaton, and joins the English word “Sabbath” as a transliteration of the Hebrew shabbath.  That’s why it now means something slightly different from what it originally meant in Hebrew.  Today, “Sabbath” means “the day of rest,” but it originally meant “to rest from labor,” with no reference to a day.

A lot of questions come up in religious circles about the Sabbath Day, especially if you are having a religious discussion with someone from the religious sect known as the Seventh-Day Adventists.  The first question which usually arises has to do with determining which day of the week was the Sabbath Day.  Was it Saturday or Sunday?  This question is the simplest one to answer.  In the Old Testament, the Sabbath was a day of rest after six days of work (Gen. 2:1-3; Ex. 20:8-11).  The Jews began their days at sunset rather than sunrise, so the seventh day began at sunset on the day we call Friday and ended at sunset on the day we call Saturday.  Therefore, “the Sabbath” generally refers to Saturday in the Bible…with one major exception.

This exception has to do with other questions about the Sabbath which are generally raised.  For example, we know that in the Old Testament the Jews were required to observe the Sabbath Day.  However, are Christians who live under the New Testament (Heb. 8:7-13; cf. Jer. 31:31-34) supposed to keep the Sabbath?  If that’s the case, then does “the Sabbath” still take place on Saturdays…or is it now on Sundays since that is the day when Christians go to church?

What Does The Old Testament Say About The Sabbath?

To find a biblical answer to these questions, let’s first consider what the Old Testament says about the Sabbath.  We’ve seen already the first mention of the Sabbath Day in the Old Testament (Gen. 2:1-3), but interestingly enough there is no further mention of it from Genesis 2:4 all the way up to Exodus 15.  Think about what this means for a second.  We never read of the many righteous men throughout Genesis who pleased God (Adam, Abel, Enoch, Lot, Noah Melchizedek, Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, Joseph, etc.) observing the Sabbath Day as holy or a day of rest.

But what about Genesis 2:3, where it says that God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because he rested on that day?  Since we read about God blessing the seventh day right when we read about the creation, doesn’t that mean that Adam, Abel, Noah, Abraham, and all the others in Genesis must have observed it just like Moses and the Jews did?

Not necessarily.  Go to Exodus 16:22-30, the first place since Genesis 2:1-3 where we read of the seventh day as being the Sabbath, a day of rest.  This passage tells us about the instructions God gave the nation of Israel concerning how to collect the manna that he rained down on them from heaven for their food while in the wilderness, shortly after they were delivered from Egyptian slavery and before they got to Mount Sinai where they received the Law of Moses.  Did you notice that they had to be specifically told (twice) not to gather the manna on the seventh day (Ex. 16:23, 29)?  However, they went out on the seventh day prepared to gather the manna anyway.  What does that tell us?  They weren’t used to taking the seventh day off from work.

Why?  Nehemiah tells us why when he wrote that the Lord “made known” to Israel the holy Sabbath at Mount Sinai (Neh. 9:13-14).  Since God made it known to them at Mount Sinai, that means they did not know about it previously.  That is why they had to be told twice not to work gathering manna on the seventh day, because putting the seventh day aside as a day of rest was something unknown to them.

With this in mind, look at Exodus 20:8-11.  This passage is part of the Ten Commandments which God gave to the Israelites at Mount Sinai.  This is when the Sabbath became a part of the Law of Moses.  Did you notice where God explains why he is giving them a commandment to keep the Sabbath Day holy (Ex. 20:11)?  The reason cited here is because he had created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, which is almost identical to the reason given in Genesis 2:3.  (More on that in a second…)

There were other reasons God commanded the Sabbath Day to be holy in the Law of Moses.  It was a weekly reminder of how he had delivered Israel from Egyptian slavery (Deut. 5:15).  It was also a sign between him and Israel to show that they were his special people (Ex. 31:13-17).  This brings to mind the interesting fact that God never commanded Gentiles (non-Jews) to observe the Sabbath.  All the commands regarding the Sabbath in the Old Testament were directed towards Israel and no other nation.  The only exception was “the stranger who is within your gates” (Ex. 20:10), so that the Israelites would not be influenced by their visitor Gentiles to disobey God’s law concerning the Sabbath (cf. Neh. 13:15-21).  Other than that, it is noteworthy that God intended the Sabbath to be something special only between him and Israel while the Law of Moses was still in effect (Ex. 31:13, 16-17; Ezek. 20:12, 20).

Keeping all of the above in mind, why did Moses, the author of Genesis, mention the Sabbath while he was writing about what happened way back at creation (Gen. 2:1-3)?  Well, who were the very first readers of Genesis?  That would be the Israelites, Moses’ traveling companions who had just been commanded by God at Mount Sinai to do something that they were not used to doing: keeping the seventh day of the week as a holy day of rest.  Remember that Moses was writing Genesis while the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness for forty years, right after God had given them the command to keep the seventh day holy and  a day of rest.  So when writing about the seventh day of this creation’s existence, the day on which God rested, the Holy Spirit inspired Moses to write Genesis 2:3 as something similar to a parenthetical statement, a relevant reminder of why God gave them that particular commandment at Mount Sinai (Ex. 20:8-11).  Basically, God was telling Moses, “When you write about how I rested on the seventh day, remind Israel that I blessed this day and made it holy for them back at Mount Sinai.”

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Offended by Hell?

Are you offended by hell?

Biblical Truth Always Offends… Those Who Refuse To Follow It…

Offended? That someone cares about you and tells you the truth?

Offended? That someone cares about you and tells you the truth?

If you’re a faithful gospel preacher then you’ve probably heard it. If you haven’t, and you remain a faithful gospel preacher, then you almost certainly will at some point. A member brings a denominational friend or relative to services. You preach a sermon. Later on, the member comes to you and reports that their friend was very offended, because based on what you preached, they concluded that you thought that their particular religious group was unbiblical, unapproved by God, and therefore going to hell. Now, not that you actually said or made the statement, “They are going to hell,” but you preached the word, which made it quite clear as to their eternal destination. Your congregant reports further that you and your “hateful” lesson now have to be disgustedly discussed every time they get together. So… what do you do? How do you respond? Luke left absolutely no doubt as he quoted the words of our Lord Jesus:

“Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets” Luke 6:22-23 (NKJV).

And so did they do to Jesus – the One in whose footsteps you are so faithfully following. You see, as Jesus preached and taught, He did exactly the same thing. Consider with me, the following…

The centerpiece of the so-called “Sermon on the Mount” (the very first recorded, and therefore perhaps most important message of Jesus’ entire ministry; and most certainly the one that sets the stage for the remainder of it), is found in Matthew 5:20: “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” In that sermon, everything Jesus says prior to that statement is leading up to it, and everything He says following that statement is but an illustration of it. But what about the statement itself? Have you ever thought about that? When Jesus says that unless people’s righteousness exceeds that of these two, seemingly very well established, pious, popular, powerful and particular ritualistic religious groups, that they will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven, what exactly is He saying? If one is absolutely not going to enter the kingdom of heaven, then what is the only alternative? Where is he going? To hell. The Love Incarnate Lord Jesus’ implication could not be clearer. And the Scribes and Pharisees of whom He spoke could not have missed it.

The same can be said for His famous “conversion conversation” with Nicodemus in John 3, wherein He states: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). If one cannot enter the kingdom of God because he refuses to obey the divine directives for entrance into it – in this case being born again of the water and the Spirit (verse 3) – then what is the only other alternative for his eternal destination? If one is not going to enter heaven, then where is he going to go? Hell – plain and simple. Jesus didn’t come right out and say “Unless one is born of the water and the Spirit, he’s going to go to hell,” but He might just as well have. There is no alternative destination, deduction, or even hinted at implication inherent in His statement. If one is not born again of the water and the Spirit, then they will not wind up in heaven, but in hell. Jesus so said. There can be no mistaking His message.

Therefore, is it wrong for a faithful preacher of the gospel today who is sincerely seeking to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, to insist upon and leave no doubt in anyone’s mind in the assembly – friend, foe, guest or denominationalist alike – that if one does not repent and get baptized in water specifically for the forgiveness of their sins and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38), that they are absolutely not saved and will absolutely not go to heaven (but are instead headed to hell) until and unless they do? Absolutely not. That’s exactly what Jesus did with Nicodemus. And if that’s wrong then Jesus sinned. And if Jesus sinned then your faith is in vain! (Hebrews 4:15)

Furthermore, what did Jesus do later when His own disciples came to Him and suggested that He might possibly want to consider “toning it down a notch,” when it came to what He was teaching, because some of the pious, powerful, and highly ritualistic religious people who heard His message were offended by it (Matthew 15:12)? After all, they certainly had no trouble understanding exactly what He was saying about them, or, about what fate awaited them should they continue to worship according to the doctrines and commandments of men (See: Matthew 15:1-14; Mark 7:1-13). Therefore, is it wrong for a faithful preacher of the gospel today who is sincerely seeking to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, to inform those who are worshipping unacceptably according to the word of God, that their worship – no matter how sincere they may be in performing it – is in vain as well? Not a chance! And in fact, instead of “toning it down a notch” at His disciples request, He “turned it up a notch” at His divinely best (See Matthew 23)!

The holy and eternal word of almighty God is divinely designed to cut, shred, dig and slice, deep into a desperate sinner’s heart. This is why the Bible refers to itself as “the sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17), “living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). Do those divinely-inspired descriptions sound like the word of God should somehow NOT cut and pierce when properly used? Of course not. And preachers are commanded to personally and persistently cut, thrust, and parry with that spiritual sword at every opportunity (2 Timothy 4:1-4), in order to cut through the confusion and deception of man-made doctrines, and pierce to the heart those who have been deceived by them (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). Faithful preachers like Peter and Stephen have always done so – despite the outcomes; outcomes which were sometimes wonderful (Acts 2:37), and sometimes horrible (Acts 7:54-60), but still they did what God wanted. And if they hadn’t – or if they don’t – then no one could ever be saved.

As a hopefully faithful gospel preacher in the eyes of God, I have every intention of continuing to use “the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17) to lovingly and with as much accuracy and precision as I can possibly, prayerfully, and persistently muster, to cut, slice, pierce, and offend the sensitivities of every lost sinner I can, in an all-out and essential effort to see their eternal souls eventually saved. For my preaching peers who understand what it means to truly follow the sinless Son of God and greatest Preacher to ever tread this planet, I am sure that for them, too, there is no higher compliment that can be paid than that they preached God’s word and thus thoroughly offended those refusing to follow it, just like Jesus did. And conversely, there can be no greater condemnation that can be presented to them, than that they refused to preach the truth, and thus did not offend the rebellious and ritualistic misled religionists all around them, and wound up tickling their ears and saving none of their souls which Jesus went to the cross to cleanse, and thereby offended Jesus instead of men (Matthew 11:6)!

In the words of the beloved Apostle Paul, as penned to the first century congregations of the “churches of Christ” (Romans 16:16) in the Galatian region (Galatians 1:2), “Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth” (Galatians 4:16)? “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10).

 

 

 

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Hate The Evil and Love The Good

Hate The Evil and Love The Good  – Amos 5:12-15

As God began to prepare to bring judgment upon the Northern Kingdom of Israel He tried to prepare them through the prophet Amos. He asked them to consider how they could continue to walk in unity with God if they walked out of step with Him (3:3). He knew their wickedness, and from it they could not hide, so he encouraged them to seek good, and not evil, to hate the evil and love the good, so that a favorable judgment might be established (5:12–15). In the midst of this warning comes this grave admonition, “Because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”

Whether to embrace good or evil, we choose.

Whether to embrace good or evil, we choose.

To examine our own relationship with God in comparison with Israel’s is both wise and essential.

Consider what God says about their “walk” and ours. Watch a marching band or military company parading in step. It is a thing of beauty and shows unity and precision. If even one of the unit is out of step with the rest it is glaring. Each is also guided by a leader who sets the pace of the march. When the group does not follow the cadence set by the leader there is confusion and disorder. We too are to walk in step with the leader, Jesus Christ our Lord. When even one walks out of step with him it effects the unity of the whole. Paul said to the Corinthians “Did we not walk in the same spirit? Did we not walk in the same steps?” (2 Corinthians 12:18). And to the church at Thessalonica he wrote, “withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us…For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner” (2 Thessalonians 3:6, 11).

Consider what God has to say about what they “love” and “hate.” Amos, in speaking the word of the Lord to Israel, accused them of afflicting the righteous, taking bribes, and depriving the poor. They were told to seek good, and not evil. If so the Lord would be with them. They were to hate evil and love good, that the Lord might be gracious. Consider the converse of these two statements. Do we hate what God hates and do we truly love what God loves (Proverbs 6:16–19)? Far too many Christians today are guilty of calling good evil and evil good (Isaiah 5:20). Do we love truth and hate false doctrine (Psalm 119:104)? Do we truly hate the sin, but love the sinner? Do we hate even our own lives enough to love, obey, and serve the Lord (Matthew 16:24–26)?

Consider what God says about their worship and its impact on ours. Just because we are doing the things that God says to do does not necessarily imply that God will accept our offerings. If there is sin standing between us and God, or if our heart is not right in offering our worship, praise, and service to Him, then He will not accept it! Judgment is coming…are we prepared?

Be faithful!

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Self Examination

Self Examination

Everyone needs to undergo a self examination.

Everyone needs to undergo a self examination.

The apostle Paul admonished, “.” (2 Cor. 13:5) The self examination is for our own spiritual benefit. It is good for us! If I don’t quite measure up to what the Lord expects of me or if I have begun to slip, I need to know about it. Sometimes this slipping or drifting (Heb. 2:1) is so gradual that the individual barely notices it, if at all. This is why it is so important and necessary that this self examination be conducted on a regular basis. It must be done with honesty and with a desire to change where changes need to be made. We must be careful not to compare ourselves with others. (2 Cor. 10:12) We must measure our lives by the word of Truth. Please take a few moments to measure your life by the Divine Standard.

  • Do I ever deliberately miss a service (Sunday, and/or Wednesday)?
  • Do I visit and/or show concern for the sick?
  • Do I visit and/or send a note of encouragement to a weak brother or sister?
  • Do I make an effort to check on my brothers or sisters who were absent from the assembly to let them know that I missed them?
  • When going on vacation, do I inquire concerning places to worship? Do I skip Bible classes and Sunday night services while away on vacation?
  • Do I allow my children to attend dances or go to other places of sin, leave the house immodestly dressed and thus, put my stamp of approval on such sin?
  • Do I check my children’s lessons to make sure they completed them and do I question them to make sure they are learning Divine Truth?
  • Do I miss church services with some physical ailment and then go to work on Monday or engage in some other activity with that same ailment?
  • Do I speak words of encouragement to the elders and let them know that I appreciate them?
  • Do I find myself regularly complaining about what is “wrong” with the congregation, or instead of complaining, am I looking for a way to improve the situation?
  • Am I regularly looking for ways to serve God and others?
  • Do I pray, daily?
  • Do I study God’s word daily or do I use as an excuse that I am too tired after working all day?

Now, read Hebrews 10:25, Matthew 6:33, Matthew 5:16, Matthew 22:37, Hebrews 3:13, Galatians 6:1, and Galatians 2:20. Then, go through this self–examination again. How do you measure up?

What do you need to change? Remember, the Lord knows!

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