sabbith and a day of rest

of course, you can. For most ministers, our "day of rest" is far, far from Sunday.

Mine is Friday.

 

The spirit of the commandment is that we are to take one day in seven to rest. These days, most of us are able to do that, but I know a few workaholics who still don't. God designed us to need a break from our labor at least one day in seven. Out of respect for my body, which is a temple, I rest one day in seven, usually on Saturday, but not always.

As for worship and fellowship, sure, we can do that on the day we choose to rest, or do it another day. A Christian should worship every day, not just on his/her day of rest.

 

I am in no way suggesting this is binding (although some would disagree with me), but this is what SOME of the original Baptists thought about the Sabbath (spelled with an A, not an I). It is taken from the 1689 London Baptist Confession.

8)

As it is a law of nature, applicable to all, that a proportion of time, determined by God, should be allocated for the worship of God, so, by His Word, He has particularly appointed one day in seven to be kept as a holy Sabbath to Himself. The commandment to this effect is positive, moral, and of perpetual application. It is binding upon all men in all ages. From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ the Sabbath was the last day of the week, but when Christ's resurrection took place it was changed to the first day of the week, which is called the Lord's day. It is to be continued to the world's end as the Christian Sabbath, the observance of the seventh day being abolished.

Exod. 20:8; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1,2; Rev. 1:10.

7)

Men keep the Sabbath holy to the Lord when, having duly prepared their hearts and settled their mundane affairs beforehand, for the sake of the Lord's command they set aside all works, words and thoughts that pertain to their worldly employment and recreations, and devote the whole of the Lord's day to the public and private exercises of God's worship, and to duties of necessity and mercy.

Neh. 13:15-22; Isa. 58:13; Mat. 12:1-13.

 

If that were so, then we'd be breaking the commandment if we didn't attend church on Sundays (or whatever the designated Sabbath day is). That simply isn't in line with the intent ot the Commandment, neither is it in line with Jesus telling us that the Sabbath was made for us, and not us for it.

 

The Sabbath was never for the Gentiles. It was part of the covenant made with the Jews at Mt. Sinai. The whole idea of blending Jewish Sabbath law with worship in the church is a failure to “rightly divide” IMO. The Law was not given to Gentiles, it was to the Jews. Further, the Sabbath was not a “day of worship” it was a day of rest. If we are going to apply the Sabbath by way of application, let’s apply it as a day of rest, not a day of worship! Take Saturday’s off.

 

Sabbath is OT. Worship on Sunday is Christian. Take any day in the week as your day of rest, then worship on Sunday --- and, in this day and age, we must add: employment permitting.

 

I think the Sabbath may have been given to mankind before any Jew was ever born. It was fleshed out in more detail for the Jews, but the idea that even the land was to have rest (presumably from humans working on it) was extremely important to God himself from narratives in the OT.

 

I think I remember reading about the Sabbath in Genesis 2

Genesis 2:1-3 hus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

This was well before the Law. It was given to man as a day set apart (sanctified), which would involve worship and rest. Baptists used to believe that the principle of Sabbath was bigger than the Law, and when Christ rose on Sunday, the principle was transferred to Sunday.

 

Blue,

God blessed the Sabbath, but no command to keep it. No record of anyone ever observing the Sabbath prior to the Exodus, period.

Exodus plainly declares:

Exod 31:12-17
12 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.
14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.

Not given to mankind. Not given to the Gentiles. GIVEN TO ISRAEL. NOT GIVEN TO THE CHURCH.

 

Got any passages to support this? or are we just dealing with tradition here? Gen 2 certainly does not say this...

 

Got any passages to support this? or are we just dealing with tradition here? Gen 2 certainly does not say this... </font>[/QUOTE]Is the prohibition against lying applicable to all men or was it just part of the Law? What about murder? These are things that people have always kept because they are part of the nature of man. The Sabbath is the same way. It was not something that was regulated until the Law, but it was something that was, at the very least, talked about and foreshadowed in Gen. 2.

1) It was set apart.

Genesis 2:3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it

2) It was made for man.

Mark 2:27 And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

3) It involved worship.

Do I need verses to support this? I could point to almost the entire Old Testament.

4) It involved rest.

Ditto above point.

5) When Christ rose on Sunday, the church transferred the principle to Sunday.

Acts 20:7 Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.

 

CB,

Many other points in the law are a part of natural conscience. Not the Sabbath. Neither lying or murder are given special covenant significance like the Sabbath. Nor is the Sabbath commanded to Gentiles, anywhere. It was to Israel, see above...

The Sabbath was a day of rest. It was not a day of worship. Read the wording of commandment and the sabbath/covenant passage! That they may have worshipped on the Sabbath at some special times is irrelevant. God ordained it as a day of rest, not worship. Yep, guess you better show me a few passages that tells us the PURPOSE of the sabbath was worship.

Any place anywhere after the cross where you can show that the church "rested" on the Sabbath? If the principle is transferred to the church, we should at least find some mention of believers needing to rest on the Lord's day...

 

Uncharted,

Do you go to church on the seventh day? I go on the first, though I have heard of seventh day Baptists.

I tried the just rest on the seventh day thing on my wife. She still wants the grass cut... Hey, it was worth a try!

 

So, why is it that Sunday (supposedly being a day of "rest" and "worship") can often become a very tiring and busy day?

(This list does not necessarily reflect a particular church)

"Get up, you lazy bum! It's Sunday!"

1. First, "Sunday School" hour (yeah, this is what Robert Raikes really intended).
2. Next, the morning service.
3. Next, lunch rush.
4. Maybe afternoon canvasing/bus ministry.
5. Don't forget choir practice at 6:00pm.
6. Now, Sunday evening service.
7. Finally, I can have my day of rest. My bedtime before the work week.