The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum Observing the Sabbath

In the thread

https://www.the-highway.com/forum/showfla...;o=&fpart=1

William said

and Marie said


This may seem like a very obvious questions that every Christian should know the answer to, but what all is involved in "observing the Lord's day". I think most people think of things like attending church, worshipping God, reading Scripture, and resting, but what else is involved. Are there any things that are commonly associated with observing the Sabbath that may not necessarily be involved. For example, most churches have a morning and evening service. If you don't attend both services did you not observe the Sabbath properly? If two, why not three (mid-afternoon)? As Marie hinted at, how do we keep ourselves from becoming legalistic about those things. Honestly, there are occassional Sunday's during the year, where I just don't have the desire to go to church, but I go anyway. I feel on those occaissions there is quite a bit of legalism mixed in with my attendance. I find myself repenting of a hard heart very often.

John

Hi John,

I go to Church most Sundays but there are quite a few where I take the time off and just have time out. I think it is important to remember as Marie reminds us, that the Sabbath was made for Man. We need a day of rest!

I think Hebrews Ch4 is very interesting on this subject. It seems to me that God wants us to enter continually into His sabbath rest, where we rest from our own works and trust in Him.

Galatians Ch4 & 5 are also interesting. Particularly 4:10 where Paul warns about observing special days to fulfill the law. Colossians 2:16 is interesting:

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.


I can't think of anywhere in the NT where Christians are admonished to keep the Sabbath. (Please correct me if I'm wrong here). We are told not to stop meeting together as Christians and that's the main reason why I try to get to Chuch most sundays and pariculary to a homegroup where you can really share in a meaningful way with other Christians - building each other up in our most holy faith.

Blessings to you!

You might profit from reading any or all of the following:

• The Covenantal Sabbath - Dr. Francis Nigel Lee [Book]
• The Foundations of the Sabbath in the Word of God - B.B. Warfield
• The Fourth Commandment: According to the Westminster Standards - John Murray
• The Perpetuity and Change of the Sabbath - I - Jonathan Edwards
• The Perpetuity and Change of the Sabbath - II - Jonathan Edwards
• The Perpetuity and Change of the Sabbath - III - Jonathan Edwards
• The Fourth Commandment - Rev. G. Van Reenen
• The Sabbath Question - James MacGregor [Series]
• The Perpetuity and Change of the Sabbath - James T. Dennison, Jr.
• Remembering the Lord's Day - David J. Engelsma

In His grace,

On Sunday we cease from our labor only so that we might, by our ceasing, enter into the joy of the completed work our God had done. Its important that we declare what Sabbath is, rather than define it only by saying what it is not. Along with the many good links Pilgrim has provided I found the one below a good study on this topic too.

Worship and the Sabbath Day: The Sabbath Day by Bob Burridge


The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter XXI
Of Religious Worship, and the Sabbath Day

VIII. This Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe an holy rest, all the day, from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employments and recreations,[38] but also are taken up, the whole time, in the public and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.[39]

38. Exod. 16:23, 25-26, 29-30; 20:8; 31:15-17; Isa. 58:13-14; Neh. 13:15-22
39. Isa. 58:13-14; Luke 4:16; Matt. 12:1-13; Mark 3:1-5


Wes

Hi Ivo,


But, what exactly does it mean that the Sabbath was made for Man. From your statement it seems that you think that it means we can are to use it as a day to do whatever we need to do to recover from a long week. I don't think this is actually what the verse is intended to mean.



Well, as Pilgrim and Wes pointed out, I do think that we are required to keep the Sabbath. Even though there may not be many directly relevant passages in the NT, the conclusion that therefore "we aren't directly admonished to keep the Sabbath" or to the conclusion that from the NT onwards the Sabbath was in some way abrogated is a mistaken conclusion I believe. Some of the links Pilgrim gave directly deal with this point. My question was not "are we required to keep the Sabbath?", but how do we keep the Sabbath and avoid turning it into just going through the motions. Also, I was curious exactly keeping the Sabbath include and what it might not include that is commonly assumed that it does.

What is the primary purpose of attending church? Is it not to worship and glorify God? Of course, some part of that includes Christian fellowship and building each other in the faith, but I'm not sure fellowship is the primary reason for attending church. It takes the focus off God and turns it on ourselves.

John

Pilgrim,

Thanks for the links. I'm slowly working my way through the articles and I have to say they have been incredibly convicting. It's depressing in a way to read the articles and see how far short of keeping the Sabbath I fall, but I'm thankful because as I've been reading I think God has been calling me to repentance. There are a number of questions I have from the articles, but I think I'll wait until I finish reading before I ask them.

John

John,

I am glad to hear that you are finding some benefit from some of those articles linked to. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

As to what exactly are we to do on the Sabbath methinks it should be noticed that the commandment to keep the Sabbath is a positive versus the majority of the commandments which address how man is to relate to his fellow man, which are negative; "Thou shalt not . . ." Secondly, again comparing these same commandments, the 4th Commandment doesn't go into much detail as to the specifics as to what should be done or not be done whereas the other commandments do. What I have gleaned from these two simple observations, and they are not meant to be exhaustive by any stretch of the imagination, is that the Sabbath day was created for man so that he can cease from all his worldly responsibilities and the weariness that accompanies them and focus upon the greatness and goodness of God, both as one's Creator and Redeemer.

I also believe that it is a huge mistake and a grievous error for any church or denomination to regulate the Sabbath by setting forth a list of "do's and don'ts" which they deem appropriate. This conclusion was reached by looking at the Pharisees, who might have been very sincere and doubtless very zealous about keeping the law. Unfortunately, they are infamous for distorting the law by adding to or taking away from its true intent. You are no doubt familiar with the several passages which relate the Pharisees confrontation with Jesus over what He and the disciples did on the Sabbath day and how He rebuked them for their objections. It is in these passages that we read, "The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:" (Mk 2:27). Here we see clearly that the Sabbath was a gift from God to man for his enjoyment and not a commandment to which man must be subject to via a long list of prohibitions. This enjoyment, I believe, is to be seen as having "joy in the LORD".

Throughout history, there have been those who had good intentions, laid down the law concerning the keeping of the Sabbath Day. For example, there are those who forbid even the cooking of meals, washing of dishes, walking in the garden, etc. On the other hand there are those who see the Sabbath Day, if they even hold that there is a Sabbath Day, as a time that has no boundaries, i.e., there is to be no regulation as to how one is to conduct himself, e.g., attending some sporting event, working one's job, etc.

Some of our forefathers wisely believed that the conduct acceptable for the Sabbath consisted of two elements: 1) the corporate gathering of the saints for the purpose of offering worship to God, and 2) doing works of necessity and mercy. It is the latter of the two which has evoked much debate among men. What exactly are "works of necessity"? And, what are "works of necessity"? Yes, I could offer a few in each category which I feel are appropriate, e.g., Necessity: those who are employed in a Pharmacy, hospital, and other healthcare agencies, just to name a few. And, Mercy: visiting the infirm, elderly and poor are but a few that come to mind. There could be added quite a few more to each of these two areas. But again, the point is that although there are bounds which a believer should observe, they will vary according to one's conscience. Scripture does give us some examples and it is from them that we should frame our lives in regard to keeping the Sabbath. However, to iterate, the main purpose of the Sabbath which God created for man is that man may delight in the Lord by ceasing from that which is required of him throughout the week and focusing upon Him with one's whole mind, body and strength.

In His grace,

Pilgrim

Thanks for your thoughtful comments.

The Engelsma article you linked to was very challenging for me and brought up a number of questions.
He states


Do you think he is correct in stating that negligence in church attendance is the grossest violation of the Fourth Commandment. However, I can't be sure if he is using "grossest" in a superlative sense or in he is using it to indicate that it is a very hideous violation but not necessarily the worst. Is he correct in stating that "diligent church-attendance very really is obedience to the Fourth Comandment"?

Also, he states,


Is it requisite that to faithfully observe the Sabbath it is necessary to attend all the services your church holds? I'm assuming that he doesn't mean the morning service twice for those churches who have split services although his statement seems to include it. I confess I'm only an occassional attender of my church's evening service.


Would even reading the Sunday paper be neccesarily a violation of the Sabbath?


John

1) I do agree that deliberately choosing not to attend worship; corporate worship, is a violation of the Fourth Commandment. This does NOT mean one must go to just ANY church, for many churches are guilty of offering profane worship. But where there is a biblical church that preaches the true doctrines of Scripture, enjoins hearers to be sanctified in Christ by putting into practice those truths and disciplines those who are living in unrepentant sin, one must attend. Whether or not the refusal to do so is the "grossest" sin one could commit against the Fourth Commandment I'll let you decide. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> I personally can think of a few things which I think are far worse.

2) I think one should do what one can to attend worship, e.g., [1] morning and evening service if available. There are situations where this is not possible, of course. But on the whole, I think it is not unreasonable nor impossible for most to do. There are situations where a church is in "transition", i.e., moving from a solid conservative stance to a compromising stance where they have one or more "alternative" services to accommodate those who desire a more contemporary worship style. So, there may be one "conservative/traditional" service and another or more "contemporary [aka: profane]" service. In those situations it would not be mandatory nor even recommended that one attend the contemporary service.

3) Re: reading the Sunday newspaper. Well, I would tend to agree that reading the Sunday newspaper does not fulfill what God desires of His people to do on the Sabbath. With the plethora of reading material available which most of us will hardly even begin to exhaust, which exalts Christ and is beneficial to our growing in grace, it seems to me that one would consider the Sabbath a blessed opportunity to take advantage of the time allowed to read them. Sunday's newspaper can be read on any other day, right? The Sabbath is also provides a golden opportunity to visit the elderly and infirm, those imprisoned, providing food, clothing, etc., to the homeless and/or needy, etc. In other words the Sabbath, in addition to providing a time to cease from our daily labours and concerns to worship God with the corporate gathering of the saints, it also provides an opportunity to do those works of mercy which we might not otherwise have time to do. In short, there are more than enough God-honoring things to occupy our time on the Sabbath. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/idea.gif" alt="" />

Pilgrim,

Again, thanks for your thoughtful comments. I guess I tend to agree with you, but it seems to be more of a head knowledge than a heart knowledge. I'm having to re-evaluate a lot of my beliefs about the Sabbath. I confess, sadly, that that level of committment to the Sabbath seems difficult for me at the present time. My mind so often wanders and focuses on things other than God. I will have to pray a lot about it and ask God that he would give me a heart that would be able to joyfully and faithfully observe the "whole" Sabbath and also a repentant heart.

John

I do hope that you aren't of the mind that thinks that your personal wrestling with the Sabbath is unique? <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/scratchchin.gif" alt="" /> I suppose there are some true "saints" out there that delight in the Sabbath without an errant thought and do all that they believe is in conformity to what God desires of His children on the Sabbath. But I rather suspect that the majority of true believers are far from having "arrived" and are still in the process of being sanctified in Christ. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Fortunately, we worship and serve a merciful God Who has provided us with an Advocate, the Lord Christ, Who ever makes intercession for us. And, He has also sent to us another "Comforter" Who keeps us from falling and also gradually leads us into all truth through His enlightenment and leadings. It's a gradual conquest, brother. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

In His grace,

Can I add my pennies worth here,” If Christ is not the central pivotal point in our life, then surly everything we do, will be off balance (Spiritual speaking). Do we always have to have Book, Chapter and Verse, do we have to think wither we go to church or to BALL GAME, are we “Sola Scriptura” six days a week then fined we have a Will to chose what WE want to do, have we, as Gods People have we no Responsiblity. For all you able body Christians who are in the world, yet not of it (Praise God) six days a week, (circular working) surly there is only one place to be (if at all possible) and that is amongst your own.
Acts 4:23. “And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.” When I was a young Christian, and worked for the Belfast ship builders (Harland and Wolff) I could not wait for the stopping horn to sound. On a Thursday as it was “Prayer and Bible Study night” It was even better when the weekend came, I was usually the first one at the church door waiting for the elder to open up. Around the Lords Table with the Lord People, sharing Gods Word, to be in company of people whose lips only spoke of the love and the Greatness of Christ, who lifted His name, above all other names, Acts 2:1And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with accord in one place one. It been along time since I broke bread because of ill health stops me getting out, God and only God knows the reason why, after years of ministering in song and word I don’t question Him. Friends give Him your all – for He give His all for you.
May God Bless YOU All Real Good?
JOHN.A

I am not one of those who thinks my personal wrestlings are unique. In fact, it's an encouragement to know others struggle as I do. I guess since I tend to be around myself 100% of the time <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/giggle.gif" alt="" />, it's sometimes easy to focus too much on yourself.

John