#305.19

THE SABBATH

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THE LORD'S DAY

SABBATH BREAKERS

"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath...in it thou shalt not do any work....the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." Exodus 20:8-11. And, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day..." Revelation 1:10.

We will begin by asking a few questions:

Could the Lord's Day, which is synonymous to the Day of the Lord, be the same as the Sabbath, and if so, is it a particular day of the week? If it is, which day: Saturday, the last day of the week, or perhaps Sunday, the first day of the week? If either is said to be the proper day, which of the forty or so calendars being used in the world today would be the right one from which to select the day so it could be kept?

As it stands, the Gregorian Calendar ranks number one, since it is the most widely used calendar in the world today. By using this one the majority of Christian churches have chosen Sunday as being their Sabbath. This is due to Jesus having been raised from the dead early on the first day of the week as mentioned in John 20:1.

Others, however, maintain that the true Sabbath is Saturday. And there are churches that have made it a major tenet of their faith and use it as part of their name; such as, the Church of God, Seventh-day Adventist, and Seventh Day Baptists. When taking the Old Testament laws and applying them literally to the New Testament Church, it is easily seen why this is done; for it was the 7th day of the week that the 4th commandment said was hallowed, a day to remember, to rest therein, and to keep it holy.

By taking into account the meaning of some of these words will help to form and build a more clear picture to our understanding:

•Rest: H7673 shâbath; to repose, desist from exertion

•Sabbath: H7676 shabbâth from H7673; intermission

•Holy: H6942 qadash; to be clean.

•Hallowed: H6942 qadash; to be clean

•Keep: H8104 shâmar; to hedge about, guard, protect, attend to

Regarding these definitions, is there an inference, a suggestion, or a command that in order to keep the day holy that Christians are required to attend church on the Sabbath, worship the Lord in song and prayer, and listen to sermons from their pastors? The answer, of course, is no! There is nothing in the 4th commandment or in the scriptures that says anything about going to church, worship, or preaching. It simply says to remember the day of rest, take a break, and keep it clean.

 You see, going to church on a certain day of the week neither makes it holy nor keeps it holy. Neither do preaching, teaching, and being a part of the congregation on either day make or keep it holy, that is, clean. If anything, it subjects the day to man's religious efforts rather than keeping it clean. You see, religious activities cannot make anything clean. They simply are not instruments that make any day of the week, or the day of the Lord, holy. Every day begins holy/clean. Men can do nothing to make it clean. They cannot improve on what is already pure and perfect. Such purity is God’s doing. The best that man can do is to keep it that way by not putting his hand to it.

Please know that this is not saying to stop going to church, being blessed by the company of the brethren, worshiping the Lord in the spirit of praise and thanksgiving, or receiving the word of God as it is breathed from His throne. The issue is His saints being erroneously made subject to something natural that points to the true day of rest, and even if it is necessary for the natural day to be kept, they are not doing so. We note also that Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man, it was to serve him, rather than man being made for the Sabbath to serve it. He reinforced it by saying that He was the Lord of the Sabbath. Mark 2:27.

Where, then, does this leave us? The same as it was with Him, of course. That is, we likewise reside over that day. We rule it rather than it ruling us and making us legalistic servants of a law. It is good, of course, to cease from ones labors, physically and mentally. It is medicine to the body to take one day of the week and not work. But to be a servant of the law, even out of explicit devotion, is not what God intended. We are not called to be mere obedient minions of a law, but in His name to be fulfillers of it, to fulfill the law in and by the Spirit and nature of Jesus Christ. It was not something to be obediently worked out.

The word for work (melaò’kâh) in the Hebrew is interesting in itself. It means deputyship, that is, ministry; also employment but never as servile or slavish work, (ref. H4399). The root from which it is derived is mal’âk and means to dispatch as a deputy; a messenger; specifically of God, that is, an angel, also a prophet, priest or teacher' (H4397). Strongs Exhaustive Concordance.

Paul said something about this: "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross." Colossians 2:14.

SABBATH BREAKERS
 

According to the 4th commandment of the law, pastors are forbidden to minister to the people on the 7th day. They cannot be dispatched to the congregation on the day of rest. If pastors do minister, and the people attend the services, they would be partakers of his illegal labor. They all would be breaking the very law that they believe to be keeping. Rather than being Sabbath keepers, they would be Sabbath breakers.

You see, rather than ministering to the congregation on the Sabbath, the priests ministered to the LORD:

On a Sabbath day, there were the weekly renewal of the showbread and an additional burnt offering of two lambs. At sunset on Friday, the Sabbath began, immediately followed by the renewal of the showbread. The priests offered the morning sacrifice on the Sabbath (Saturday morning) and evening sacrifice. They spent the Sabbath in the Temple. The Sabbath service was the same as on other days, except that at the close of the morning sacrifice two additional lambs were offered, along with its appropriate meal and drink offerings. When the Sabbath was over, the priests left the Temple.

As for believing going to church is part of keeping the Sabbath holy, consider what another has written about it:

"An interesting study is to look up the word 'Sabbath' in a concordance, find all the Old Testament references and then read those passages to see how this day was kept 'holy.' The conclusion will be that rest from labor is what made the Sabbath a sacred time, not attendance at a worship service. Most Israelites lived too far from the tabernacle to attend a worship service every Sabbath – and there is no evidence in the Old Testament that they did. And the law did not allow them to assemble anywhere else for worship. Nor do we find commands even for people near the Tabernacle that they had to gather for worship. The Sabbath was kept at home, by resting.

"There is no mention in Old Testament passages that attending a worship service on the Sabbath is a way of keeping this day holy. The way the Sabbath was sanctified, made holy or set apart as sacred was through physical rest from labor. All the Old Testament references to Sabbath observance in Israel speak to this point. There is no Old Testament theology of weekly Sabbath holiness that centers around attendance at 'holy convocations.'

"There is no indication in Scripture of Israelites going to worship services of one kind or another in their local towns and villages. They could travel to worship services at the Tabernacle only for the annual festivals.

"One might point to the New Testament and say, 'But Jesus and Paul attended the synagogue on the Sabbath. Doesn’t this indicate that worship services were an essential part of God’s command to keep the Sabbath holy?'

"So far as we know from Scripture or Jewish history, there was no national system of Sabbath-day worship sites or places of communal instruction throughout Israel’s history in the Promised Land up to the captivity of Judah in the 530s B.C. and the return of a remnant to Judea a few decades later. There were no synagogues before the exile; there were no local meeting places in Israel before the exile, because there was no command for weekly meetings.

"The synagogue system allowed Jews to meet together in local towns and villages for prayer, the reading of the Holy Scriptures and for fellowship. The synagogue became a miniature sanctuary to replace the loss of the Jerusalem Temple. We do not know when the synagogue system originated. Neither the Old nor New Testaments provide any information about this development. It is generally believed that the synagogue system developed when worship at the Temple in Jerusalem became impossible and when Jews were dispersed into other nations.

"Jews added the synagogue worship system, not based on biblical command, but on a sociological need, due to the loss of the Temple and the scattering of the people far away from the Promised Land. Nowhere in the Old Testament will you find a command to have local worship sites.

"There wasn’t anything necessarily wrong with the Jews setting up synagogues. They became an important center of fellowship and instruction in the Jewish faith. The New Testament does not condemn the practice; it is taken for granted. It is nowhere commanded.

"Regarding the day on which Jews had their worship service, it’s natural that it should occur on the Sabbath. The people worked the other six days and the Sabbath was a good time for them to meet. But there is no biblical command to set up local worship sites and to make the weekly Sabbath 'holy convocations.' The Old Testament does not indicate that the Sabbath is kept holy through a meeting. Rather, it was kept as holy through rest." — Paul Kroll (Grace Communion International).

There was no ministry to the people. It was all unto the LORD. Moreover, in spite of the fact that the pastors (deputies/messengers/ministers) are not to work, that is, to minister to the people on the Sabbath, there are no scriptures that say it is the Lord’s Day. The LORD blessed and hallowed the 7th day, brought it forth clean (same Hebrew word, qâdash: clean); but contrary to what is accepted by some as orthodoxy, it was never called the Lord's Day or the Day of the Lord!

With this day having been hallowed/cleaned, there were no contaminates, pollutants, foreign entities, or agents of any kind. It was pure and altogether unadulterated. For example, if a vacuum tube of an electron scanning microscope contains one speck of dust, it has been adulterated. It is not clean. Its environment is impure, and the image will be distorted. To keep a day holy is the same. It is to be kept void of any spot whatsoever. That day is to be kept from man’s doing. That pure chamber is to be kept holy and clean.

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." Or,"Take heed, remember and guard the day of intermission, for it is pure, clean, undefiled." Exodus 20:8. With this, let us ask, how many in our natural state of being can enter a twelve or twenty-four hour day and keep from contaminating it with our carnal mind or deeds? I mean, with not even one negative thought, slip of the tongue, or action. We know of none; but if any has done so, we praise God; for he or she has truly entered into His rest in all purity and are worthy of it. Yet, such spotlessness at this time for most, especially for those who walk according to the law rather than the Spirit, would be a contaminant itself.

There is a day, however, that this will be fulfilled. And that is the real day of rest of which we enter. This is the perfect Day that shines brighter by the day as Jesus is unveiled for all to see. It is the overpowering light of the Son of God. That is the day of Rest! Not Saturday (Saturn’s day), not Sunday (Sun’s day), not Monday (Moon’s day) nor any other day of the week. The true Day that is clean and undefiled is the true Sabbath, which is our Lord’s rest.

We often quote from our dear friend, J. Preston Eby; for he always has such complimentary thoughts on just about everything we write, and such is the case today:

"This rest of the spirit had its inception on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the disciples. Jesus had promised: 'And, behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high' (Lk. 24:49). On the day of the feast of Pentecost 'they were all FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT and began to speak with tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance' (Acts 2:4).

"This was a fulfillment of prophecy! Six centuries before the prophet Isaiah had proclaimed: 'For with stammering lips and another tongue will He speak to this people' (Isa. 28:11). And what was this all about? Isaiah continues: 'THIS IS THE REST WHEREWITH YE MAY CAUSE THE WEARY TO REST; and this is the refreshing' (Isa. 28:12). This is the rest... this is the refreshing... this glorious baptism in the Holy Spirit evidenced by speaking in other tongues! I do not hesitate to declare to you that the infilling of the Holy Spirit effects the initial quickening of our spirit, releasing within the spiritual refreshing of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

"It has been my observation through many years, and I have learned as I have been taught by the Spirit of God, that though a believer may be justified by faith, as Abraham was justified by faith before the Spirit was given, the believer's spirit is not quickened by God's Spirit UNTIL HE RECEIVES THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Regardless how many years you may have walked as a justified believer in Christ, I believe that all who read these lines will agree with me, that you never truly became ALIVE UNTO GOD, QUICKENED IN SPIRIT, until you received the 'baptism in the Holy Spirit.' This is where spiritual life starts, this is where reality in Christ begins, this is where the rest of God finds its first expression, ultimately to swallow up the whole being into the fullness of GOD'S REST.

"'For with stammering lips and another tongue will He speak to this people... THIS IS THE REST wherewith ye may cause THE WEARY TO REST; and this is the refreshing.' It means simply this: If you have not received God's precious gift of the Holy Spirit; if you are not walking in the Spirit – YOU ARE A SABBATH-BREAKER! The baptism in the Spirit is merely the 'earnest,' the 'down payment' of this Sabbath rest, and, praise God, the fullness is surely becoming reality within as we FOLLOW ON to know the Lord in deeper measures.

"Oh, the goodness and greatness of the purposes of God! How wonderful and wise His ways! How almighty His acts!" — End quote. (https://godfire.net/eby/Echoes/echoes21.htm)

Try as one may, failure will befall anyone who attempts to prove by the scriptures that either the Lord's rest, or the Day of the Lord can be marked on a calendar. And please keep in mind that the Day of the Lord is not the same as the Lord's rest. The day of the Lord is a time of judgment upon nations as well as individuals and many things in between. Notwithstanding, knowing this does not stop people from presuming it is otherwise, and this is to be expected. For they have heard it preached and taught all their lives that it is a literal day of the sun rising and setting, and it is very difficult to shake off deep-rooted, life-long beliefs. But believing it along with millions of others cannot make Saturday or Sunday the Day of the Lord.

Revelation 1:10 uses the term, the Lord’s Day, and except for one other verse it is the Day of the Lord in all other cases. The exception is called His Day in Luke 17:24, and all three are equivalent in meaning. They are three terms that say the same thing.

Much more could be said concerning the Day of the Lord as not being a natural day; but enough has been supplied for us to know that His Majestic Day has nothing to do with either Saturday or Sunday.

With this, we close today as we began with a few questions:

How many of us are looking forward to the Lord’s Day, the Day of the Lord, His Day? Wouldn’t we think this would be something to welcome with open arms? Would we not rejoice at the dawning of such a holy and supreme day? And haven’t we dreamed of basking in the warm rays of His glorious presence until the end of the age and beyond? Won’t we be overjoyed when that glorious day finally arrives in its full-blown manifestation?

Well, maybe, maybe not! We will see...

To be continued.