#783 1689 Confession Worship and the Sabbath Part 2

22:6 Under the gospel, neither prayer nor any other part of religious worship is now restricted to or made more acceptable by the place where it is done or toward which it is directed. Instead, God is to be worshiped everywhere in spirit and in truth - daily in each family and privately by each individual. Also, more formal worship is to be performed in public assemblies, and these must not be carelessly or deliberately neglected or forsaken, when God by His Word or providence calls us to them. 

…20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place where one must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21“Believe Me, woman,” Jesus replied, “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.… John 4: 20-22

…10 “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would no longer kindle useless fires on My altar! I take no pleasure in you,” says the LORD of Hosts, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.” 11 “For My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In everyplace, incense and pure offerings will be presented in My name,because My name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD of Hosts. 12 “But you profane it when you say, ‘The table of the LORD is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is contemptible.’”… Malachi 1: 10-12

…7 For this reason I was appointed as a herald, an apostle, and a faithful and true teacher of the Gentiles. I am telling the truth; I am not lying about anything. 8 Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or dissension. 9 Likewise, I want the women to adorn themselves with respectable apparel, with modesty, and with self-control, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,… 1 Timothy 2: 7-9

…10 Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.… Matthew 6: 10-12

…16 But I call to God, and the LORD will save me. 17 Morning, noon,and night, I cry out in distress, and He will hear my voice. 18 He will redeem my soul in peace from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me.… Psalm 55: 16-18

1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was called the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his household were devout and God-fearing. He gave generously to the people and prayed to God regularly. 3 One day at about the ninth hour, he had a clear vision of an angel of God who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”… Acts 10: 1-3

5 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father,who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not babble on like pagans, for they think that by their many words they will be heard.… Matthew 6: 5-7

…24 And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds. 25 Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. 26 If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,… Hebrews 10: 24-26

41 Those who embraced his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to the believers that day. 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 A sense of awe came over everyone, and the apostles performed many wonders and signs.… Acts 2: 41-43

22:7 It is the law of nature that in general a portion of time specified by God should be set apart for the worship of God. So by His Word, in a positive-moral and perpetual commandment that obligates everyone in every age, He has specifically appointed one day in seven for a sabbath to be kept holy to Him. From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ it was the last day of the week. After the resurrection of Christ it was changed to the first day of the week, which is called the Lord's Day. This day is to be kept to the end of the age as the Christian Sabbath, since the observance of the last day of the week has been abolished.

…7 You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain. 8 Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,… Exodus 20: 7-9

1 Now about the collection for the saints, you are to do as I directed the churches of Galatia: 2 On the first day of every week,each of you should set aside a portion of his income, saving it up,so that when I come no collections will be needed. 3 Then, on my arrival, I will send letters with those you recommend to carry your gift to Jerusalem.… 1 Corinthians 16: 1-3

6 And after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, we sailed from Philippi, and five days later we rejoined them in Troas, where we stayed seven days. 7 On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Since Paul was ready to leave the next day, he talked to them and kept on speaking until midnight. 8 Now there were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered.… Acts 20: 6-8

9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance that are in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and my testimony about Jesus. 10 On the Lord’s day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 saying, “Write in a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”… Revelation 1: 9-11

22:8 The Sabbath is kept holy to the Lord when people have first prepared their hearts appropriately and arranged their everyday affairs in advance. Then they observe a holy rest all day from their own works, words and thoughts about their secular employment and recreation. Not only that, but they also fill the whole time with public and private acts of worship and the duties of necessity and mercy.

…12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will restore the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of the Streets of Dwelling. 13 If you turn your foot from breaking the Sabbath, from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight, and the LORD’s holy day honorable,if you honor it by not going your own way or seeking your own pleasure or speaking idle words, 14 then you will delight yourself in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the land and feed you with the heritage of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.… Isaiah 58: 12-14

15 In those days I saw in Judah people treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them on the day when they sold food. 16 Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, in Jerusalem itself! 17 Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day? 18 Did not your fathers act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”

19 As soon as it began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, that no load might be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20 Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. 21 But I warned them and said to them, “Why do you lodge outside the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath.22 Then I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love. Nehemiah 13: 15 - 22

12 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

9 He went on from there and entered their synagogue. 10 And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse him. 11 He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him. Matthew 12: 1-13

v. “The Jews were so superstitious, concerning the observance of the Sabbath, that in their wars with Antiochus Epiphanes, and the Romans, they thought it a crime even to attempt to defend themselves on the Sabbath: when their enemies observed this, they deterred their operations to that day. It was through this, that Pompey was enabled to take Jerusalem.” (Clarke)

Note: Some teachers lean to a more Sabbatarian view of Sunday, which I right now do not see a support for in the whole counsel of Scripture to my understanding. I uphold that the original Sabbath, on the seventh day of the week, was instituted in the Mosaic law and it upholds the commemoration of Creation and man's fall from that restful state in the garden. Under the New covenant the law concerning this day is broken, but the acts of God and the miracle of Creation belong to Him still. I see that the early church got together on Sunday, but I do not see mentioned in Scripture that this is a New Sabbath as a set law replacing the old day, since we are no longer under the law. I understand that Sunday was the day of our Lord's resurrection, and so such rest as was lost is now founded in Him, by faith, looking forward to it's fullness in heaven. I know we should not neglect meeting together as mentioned in Hebrews 10:25, also we should not neglect those means such as the preaching of the word, collective praise, reading of the word, sound teaching and fellowship with other believers, but I want to be clear that I do not understand Sunday worship in a legalistic fashion. I think John MacArthur puts it well here:

Sabbath

Sunday "The Lord's Day"

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#173 Sabbath

8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 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. 11 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. Exodus 20:8-11 NIV

There has been much written about the Sabbath, and much contention over the day. I am still learning about it, and praying that in every instance my opinion and practice will be shaped by what God's word is saying about it, in my understanding of both the Spirit and the Letter. First, I would like to look at the physical element of it. After six days of creation, it says God rested on the seventh day. He set it apart as holy, but also included in its observance that not only Israel, but Israel's servants and visitors as well, shall not work. The Bible tells us: how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?" 27Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28"So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." Matthew 2: 26-28. Men could conduct business and all that needed done in the six days leading up to the Sabbath, but the seventh day was to be set apart for the rest of man. Not only Israel, but those bonded to them in service were to receive this rest. You could not therefore gain a day of business on the back of your servant or hire a visitor to do your work. Israel has just been set free of the burdens of Egypt, but they are men and men quickly forget who they are and where they come from. It is easy, for the love of money, for a man to think himself entitled to the fruits of the backs of others. Governments have to make provisions against the abuse of labor, and yet it continues still, and it is against creatures made in the image of God. A man could say that he is born to this entitlement as a part of Israel, or that he is religious and therefore deserves this rest, but not according to this; it is extended to all. In its moral essence, it protects all, even from those who are outwardly religious, yet inwardly corrupt. However, any moral implication here would not appear to be about the day itself.

"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy." What was remembered about this day and on this day? God is the creator of all things, God is holy, God is just, God is merciful, He delivered them from Egypt and established His moral law here on the mount. They remember the Passover through a feast, and all these things that would foreshadow Christ. 

13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. 19 They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. Colossians 2:13-19. Man is not merely physical though, and there is a part of him that needs, not just rest from labor, but the time set apart to those things eternal. It becomes clear in the gospel message and in Paul's letters that this part was set aside by those preferring the appearance of holiness and adding to the law.12 “Also I gave them My sabbaths to be a a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. Ezekiel 20:12

The pharisees attacked those coming to be healed on the Sabbath and would attempt to charge our Lord upon the letter of their ignorance of the Sabbath. 

10 One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, 11 he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” 13 Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God!

14 But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.”

15 But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Each of you works on the Sabbath day! Don’t you untie your ox or your donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water? 16 This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn’t it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?”

17 This shamed his enemies, but all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did. Luke 13:10-17

It is only in Christ we are new creatures; it is only in Christ that we have offerings fit for a Holy God. The observance of the Sabbath was not to the merit of Israel, nor to those, who would argue over a day, in this time. 

4 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. 3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,

“So I declared on oath in my anger,

‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” 5 And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”

6 Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, 7 God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:

“Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts.”

8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:1-13

Well, I will not be defending or arguing a day in particular. The Sabbath of the Old covenant, the law, stood upon the seventh day, and shall stay standing there in my memory. I shall remember and speak of the God, who in six days created the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day rested. He instituted this law for men to remember Him, and made it holy. There is still a higher, spiritual implication here that rests upon things eternal. What happens when we forget God?  20Thus they exchanged their glory For the image of an ox that eats grass. 21They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt, 22Wonders in the land of Ham And awesome things by the Red Sea.…Psalm 106:20-22

I was approached by a gentleman while fishing the other night, and he wanted to hand me a track. I declined and tried to appear busy, but he asked if I was a Christian, to which I answered yes. He then tried to give me the track again, and so I asked him what organization he was with. He would not answer so I was admittedly rude and tried once again to walk away. He asked me what brand of Theology did I subscribe to, and so I told him, the Bible and I am a reformed Christian. I asked him why he was too embarrassed to cut the chase and tell me what religion he belonged to, and he answered that he believed the Bible too. He said he would most likely differ with me upon the Sabbath, and told me he was a Seventh Day Adventist. I thought as much, but nonetheless a touch of guilt would lead me to apologize, for I was very rude. Now, I don't think it is ever in me to change a persons mind. Most people in these instances are very much set upon what they believe, and are never much inclined to listen, both sides mostly thinking about what they will say next. I have been told to have an answer for the hope that is in me, to study and rightly divide the Word of truth, and so I spent the next 30 minutes discussing the Sabbath, and he stated, "so you think it is Sunday?" Well when we see the early church first meet, it is on Sunday and this is the day that our Lord was resurrected, fulfilling the law and completing the work that would allow us to enter His rest, and so many Christians meet on that day. But, to answer your question, no, I don't believe Sunday is the Sabbath. The Bible says that God must be worshiped in Spirit and in Truth, and  If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks? 31Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God;…1 Corinthians 10:30-32. So in the end to me it is no longer the seventh day, but rather seven days, and we are to meet with other believers as commanded, to brake bread and remember. In the remembering we are to tell others of their position in sin and point them to Christ, not a day, for He is Lord of that day. And to my new friend, I apologize, while we may differ, I was rude and for that I am sorry.

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