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bobservations -> RE: Sabbath - One Stop Thread (7/12/2005 5:12:14 PM)
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Chief, you had much to say in your post and I thik it best to answer back in color right in your post. boB
I have not gone far enough that you should have a warrant to shoot me down. I was hoping that you would hear me out a little further and be patient. Sorry I jumped the gun I was establishing the principles of the Moral law but since I see that there is a need to jump queue the whole process I might as well accommodate.
I am tempted to pour everything on in one post so let us start with your statement, "It is tradition of men". I agree. It was. But that is not all, I also believe that it was a tradition of inspired men. It was a tradition by the apostles. But are traditions established of men altogether wrong? If they were tradition of men who did not have the inspired authority of God, it must not be followed. Tradition is not always wrong. It is when people try to make it come from scripture. The Apostles did not seal a day for worship. They may have gathered on that day, but never made it manditory.
2Th 2:15 therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions, which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.
I wish there is a one-stop verse to silent all SDA advocates but there is none. Just like the rest of the commandments in the epistles, we see the moral law implied. Many times they do not enumerate it right, leave out a commandment or just plain apply it, similar to the 4th commandment. Since they are written in our hearts the law has no formal form but now is a living law. In Heb 10:25 we see the law implied. The 4th commandment is not moral it is ritual.
Heb 10:25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is... Good point. If a day was important he would have specified it. And also would have told us how often if that had been important.
Sabbath in old Israel is not only a day of rest but also a day of assembly, a day of exhortation, a day of prayer. I really don't think you will find any scripture that require assembly, exhortation or prayer. Moses told them to stay in their place (tents). Sometime later after they came to the promised land they were allowed out of their tents.
And the following statement further reinforces this that the neglect of it is sin (v26). Similarly if we are in require confessing our sins even as believers it goes to show that laws are still in place that require obedience. Verse 26 is not refering to not meeting together as the sin. It is refering to the knowledge of truth. Knowing truth and not living it.
I am not here to contend against the statement "everyday is the Sabbath". I will just let it lie for now by saying that I agree in a sense that we are now rested from the labor or the law, burden of sin and in faith with God so we rejoice and worship God daily. Individually we can apply that. But that does not altogether rub away the 4th commandment that we as the true children of God should individually and corporately apply. The principle of rest should always apply to our lives. Recreate (recreation) is good for the sole. Work should cease for a time and we should relax, gather together, worship, Praise and exhort. Either the 10 Commandments along with the rest of the 613 laws were not nailed to the Cross and we are still under its curse or we are living with Jesus and the New Covenant. All the Old Covanent was nailed to the Cross. Take your choice. Under the New there is no Sabbath.
The 4th commandment requires six days of labor and one day of rest. Isn't there an aching in the Christian heart to work hard and be all we can be for God and isn't there also a wanting to rest at least one day of the week? Isn’t that the Holy Ghost in us instructing and using our consciences to act as if it they are still imperative? Well, satan would like very much to some how put us back under a law. Keeping a Sabbath day is and has ben a form of legalism. Some Sunday keepers would very much like to see the stores closed on Sunday. They would very much like to restrict others activities. Mandating a day is a form of unwarranted control.
It requires one day to be Holy. In our hearts we all want this to be daily and not labor. But that is forthcoming when we will finally be at rest from sin and the labors of this world. While were are here we are enjoined to work that even Paul would say that it is not virtue to not labor with one’s hand. He commended himself as a workingman and he condemned those who did not by condemning them to hunger – he who does not work does not eat. If labor is not abrogated, so must be the setting aside of a day for the Lord. That is an assumption. The thought is good and I do set aside a day to collectively worship. I am glad that on Sundays most work ceases and we can all have time to worship and fellowship. In fact, praise the Lord for time off. We need it to renew our mental and physical being. Woe unto those that don't. My point is don't make it a sin for not "keeping" Sunday.
God instituted the 4th commandment as a Moral Law because worked, God rested and he hallowed it – “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it”. Did the commandment originate from Mt. Sinai? No. It originated from the day the world was created. It originated from the sense of Divine labor and Divine rest. God rested not man but God that if we were made from the image of God, the Decalogue would just be a reflection of the same image that are in us. So, if God had worked and had rested, so should we as God’s image bearers. The Decalogue may just have been on a stone but it is a testament of who we were and who we should be the holy image bearers of God. We even see in Exodus 16 prior to the ratification of God’s covenant at Mt. Sinai, Moses requiring his people to rest for one. He even required that manna be gather enough for each day but on the 6th day gather for 2 days because the next day there shall be not gathering. God instituded the 4th Commandment at Sinai, but it wasn't a moral law it was very much ritual. It was sanwiched in with the moral laws. There is no evidence that anyone after Eden kept Sabbath until Moses at the Red Sea. And then it was only given to the Jews.
Now to get back on your real disagreements to the institution of the Lord’s day, I submit that the Gospels did not put the words “first day of the week” by accident in regards to the Lord’s resurrection. First, it underscores that fact that He was to rise on the 3rd day and secondly, it underscores remembrance on the part of believers. On the same night Jesus appeared in the midst of the apostles 8 (Jewish) days after, which is an equivalent of a week, the same exact day, they were gathered ones again and were in the presence of Jesus. A new pattern had emerged in the infant church. If this is man-only tradition it seems that the Lord is placing His seal of approval on it because it is also here recorded that we see Jesus being with them, gathered. Sabbath was very important to God for the Jews He reminded them all through the Old Testament when they didn't keep it. Never in the New Testament does God remind us to observe a day. If it is so important to observe a day I would think we would have some sort of instruction. There are many examples of the apostles going to he temple on Sabbath. Would that make it a tradition for us? Should we go to a Jewish temple on Sabbath because Paul did? Would you say that that is as much a pattern as Christ's appearing on two Sundays?
John 20:19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. That was a Saturday night meeting and Paul got up the next day(Sunday) and traveled to the next city.
John 20:26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
The disciples first began the commemorative day of the Lord’s resurrection traditionally on the same day - His resurrection day. Could be, but it was never made official.
On the same day they are assembled, the principles of the weekly Sabbath were applied such as the corporate performance of ordinances and hearing of God’s word;
Acts 20:7 And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.
The setting aside of aid to the needy;
1 Corinthians 16:2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.
The examples of the NT suggest that believers were applying the good principles of the Sabbath on the first day of the week corporately instead of doing it on the last day of the week. The NT believers did not remove themselves from the principle that Sabbath is a day of mercy, necessity, gathering, worship, prayer and ordinances. We may not have to follow the external Jewish regulations but we are not to undermine the fact that there must still be on a weekly basis a day dedicated for the Lord. Show me where those "good principles of the Sabbath" are found in the law. Good point for Christians and we should practice such, but no rule was ever instituted.
It should be no mystery why John would call a day “the Lord’s day”. It is the day of Christ’s triumph over the grave and similar to the principles of Sabbath, it is the day of the Lord’s resting from His work. All days could be considered the Lord's days. Still no proof that we are to consider Sunday to be a Holy day set aside by God as a law.
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When Christ rose from the dead he had secured for us a salvation that can never be removed. His work was done. His resurrection signified God’s satisfaction in everything that He did. Similar to the Lord’s satisfaction in everything that He created.
Heb 4:4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
Heb 4:10 ….he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Sabbath is all about God finishing his work and the Lord’s Day is all about Christ doing the same. Similar principles apply to both the individual and the church. The Sabbath and the Lord’s Day are both commemorative of the days God and the Lord rested from their labor. A day of rest, worship, good works and a day separate from the rest. Jesus finished His work on Friday. I don't see how you can draw that parallel.
This has been a long post and I have taken the time to answer your thoughts. You didn't do the same for all my previous thoughts. It is my hope you will consider all of my earnest response. Peace, boB
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