Sabbath: The Sabbath
Read for This Week’s Study: John 1:1-3; Matt. 12:1-5; Luke 4:16-21; John 5:16-17; Matt. 24:20.
Memory Text: And He said to them,
(Mark 2:27-28, NKJV).The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath
Throughout His ministry, religious leaders challenged Christ’s Sabbath observance. When criticized, Christ emphasized His authority as Lord of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8, Mark 2:28, Luke 6:5). He also showed what correct observance of the Sabbath should be.
Today we are confronted not only with the challenge of correct observance
of the Sabbath but also with the popular belief that Sunday, not Sabbath, is the day of rest. Those pushing for Sunday, however, have nothing in their favor in the Gospels. The Sabbath controversies in the Gospels dealt only with how the Sabbath was to be kept, never with when. Jesus’ life and teachings leave no doubt that the seventh-day Sabbath would continue as God’s day of rest, even after His death and resurrection.
This week we will discuss Christ’s relationship to the origin and lordship of the Sabbath. Next, we will study the example and teachings of Jesus regarding the observance of the Sabbath. Finally, we’ll look at the Sabbath as seen in His teachings and in the example of His disciples after the Resurrection.
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, September 13.
This lesson gives relevance to the question, why are we Seventh-day Adventist, as opposed to another faith? The remnant church is not one of multiple equal options, but that which remains of the one fold Jesus spoke of (John 10:16).
If we are a little ashamed of the Sabbath or regard it but lightly we will not share the Three Angels Message, and give the distinctive loud cry. And the loud cry (Revelation 18:1-4) is not the common Christian evangelism which has some good elements. It is a complete message which particularly calls the faithful out of Babylon, the other sheep to the one fold.
When the message is preached it will be rebutted by “we are saved by grace, not law,” even though we may say it ourselves a thousand times. It is the best line to get one to think less of the Sabbath. Really the other commandments do not get much opposition in Christendom. It will also be made to seem that this is not about Jesus, again no matter how much we talk of Christ. The opposition is not so much about lifting up Christ as it is to put down His authority, law, standard and will.
There will be opposition from expected and unexpected sources, from outside and inside, subtle and outright, deceptive and forceful. The dragon is upset (Revelation 12:17) and will use any agency or person who is willing or careless (Matthew 16:23) to counter the truth.
At the time of the shaking caused by the straight testimony, only those who are solidly grounded will remain. In any case persecution will follow, and people do not generally allow themselves to suffer for that which does not mean a lot to them. The faithful martyrs of past ages did not count their own lives worthy to be spared rather than please the Lord.
There is something above our own salvation, and it is pleasing the Lord. When salvation is complete and its incentive removed there will still be a need to glorify God. In the day of probation the test of loyalty is given. Think carefully. What is our position? What is our stand?
To me the Sabbath commandment is perhaps the strongest commandment of the ten. I say that because it is not only a constant reminder that God is the one who made us and therefore is the one to whom we must give an account but is also a promise of an eventual rest at the end of 6000 years of sin during the seventh millennium. It is also a weekly reminder of a promise of eventual deliverance from the bondage of sin the exodus that Moses was involved as a type of the eventual release according to Deut 5:15 which reinforce the idea of rest from sin. It not only promises rest for repentant sinners but also rest for the entire universe from the strife that Satan’s rebellion has caused.
From the standpoint of literature it is the strongest because it is central within the Ten Commandments being exactly in the center of the commandments in the Hebrew and has been called the hinge because it encompasses both the vertical and horizontal aspects of relationship that are found in the first 3 and last 6 commandments respectively. And that is not even considering it as a sign of loyalty to the one who made the law in the first place and the many other things that it teaches.
When the Israelites broke the Sabbath, the LORD said "How long refuse ye to keep My commandments and My laws?" Ex. 16:28 makes the same point. The Sabbath is indeed the summation of God's commandments and laws.
I hope this weeks lesson will take us back to our original sabbath and how to keep it ,the word he blessed it and made it hope are big words for me
The Sabbath was never meant to be bound up by rules and regulations, but a relationship with God. Somehow we like the Pharisees have turned it around in the wrong direction.