Sabbaths' Offering

Going To Church With Jesus Is A Life-Enriching Experience


When the Pharisees confronted the Lord concerning the ‘lawlessness’ of His disciples, the Lord responded, ‘3Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; 4How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the showbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?’ (Matthew 12:3-4). And a little later, we read:

‘10And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. 11And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? 12How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. 13Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.’

(Matthew 12:10-13)​

Going to church with Jesus enriched the apostles’ lives in at least four ways.


They Learned Of The Love Of The Lord

Firstly, these apostles learned of the love of their Lord; of the shepherding of their Saviour. When the Pharisees stood in accusation of the apostles, the Lord interceded for them. The apostles simply stood by whilst the Lord ‘defended’ them. This is because Christ ‘loved them unto the end’ (John 13:1). We read of this intercession again in the Garden on the night of Christ’s arrest:

‘1When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples. 2And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples. 3Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. 4Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? 5They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. 6As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground. 7Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. 8Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way: 9That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none.’

(John 18:1-9)​

When we go to church with Jesus, we will learn more of His love for us. Paul wrote of the love of God in Ephesians 3:14-21:

‘14For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.’

(Ephesians 3:14-21)​

Christ wants us to have loving churches. Revelation 3:20 says, ‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me’. We often use that verse as an evangelistic verse, but in reality, it is speaking to believers. The Lord is speaking to the church at Laodicea, which had become a loveless church, and He is saying, “I am at the door of your church! I am knocking, and if you will open for me, I’ll come in and restore the loving spirit that you ought to have”. Lovelessness produces Laodicean churches, but those who go to church with Jesus will understand that He cares for them! They will understand that ‘he ever liveth to make intercession for them’ (Hebrews 7:25). As Paul wrote:

‘34Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’

(Romans 8:34-39)​

Go to church with Jesus, and learn of His love for you today!

 

They Learned From The Word Of The Lord


Secondly, we see that the disciples learned from the law of the Lord; they learned of the sufficiency of Scripture. It is interesting to note how the Lord responded to the Pharisees’ accusation. The Pharisees knew the Scriptures better than any other Jews. Most Pharisees had memorised at least the first five books of the Old Testament, and many had memorised most, if not all, of it. Yet Christ responded, ‘Have ye not read…?’ (Matthew 12:3). He replied, “Don’t you read your Bible?” The Pharisees were trying to use Scriptural authority to say that Christ had broken God’s law, but Christ responded with Scriptural authority that He had not! Christ responded with the principle of necessity, of serving God, of mercy.

The Pharisees were stuck in a rut. They had black and white, inviolable principles, in which there were no exceptions. They said, “There is absolutely no exception – you cannot do this!” But Christ responded, “Sometimes you have to make an exception! Sometimes you have to show mercy regardless of what other ‘rules’ are in place! Sometimes you have to understand that God desires ‘mercy, and not sacrifice’ (Hosea 6:6)!” And in the case of the Sabbath observances, Christ taught that it was more important to show mercy to someone than to stick to a list of unalterable rules!

When we go to church, let us allow the Lord to teach us His Word! It is so easy for us to interpret the Bible the way we see things, and make a list of rules to fit. But we need to be taught by God! We need to be equipped, to develop a biblical mindset. We need to go into every situation thinking biblically, having the mind of Christ.

Church is there to help you with the conflicts and the critics. Church is there to help you to know the character of God, and thus to know what He would have you to do in any given circumstance. ‘The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe’ (Proverbs 18:10).


They Learned Of The Identity Of The Lord

Thirdly, we see that the disciples learned of the Lordship of the Lord; they learned of the sovereignty of the Saviour. The Lord continued speaking to the Pharisees: ‘6But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. 7But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. 8For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day’ (Matthew 12:6-8).

Basically, the Lord was saying, “The Temple honours Me, and the Sabbath serves Me!” Jesus Christ referred to the disciples as ‘guiltless’ in their actions that day, and if He called them blameless, then they were blameless!

Going to church with Jesus will impress us with His Lordship. Jesus Christ is Lord, and it is for this reason that we are to guard the Lord’s Day! The Lord’s Day is to be a day that we set aside all else in order to go to church with Jesus and learn more of His identity. And when we go to church with Him, we are to expect to be taught more about Him. It takes concentration to reflect upon Christ’s reality and thus we are to guard the Lord’s Day as precious, in order that we might learn more of the identity of the Lord.


The Learned Of The Mercy Of The Lord


Fourthly, we see that the disciples learned of the mercy of the Lord; they learned of the salvation of the Saviour. After His reply to the Pharisees, we read of another of His miracles:

 

GE

Barth speaks of the Sabbath's 'monstrous scope'. Its Law in Scriptures will reach each and everyone calling himself a Christian. Just as Jesus came into this world for to be a judgement unto everyone, just so has God intended his Holy Day of Rest -- to grant no one rest until being brought into the Rest of God which is Jesus Christ.


Now who is it claiming he worships this Christ but tramples down the Lord's Day?

The Sabbath in the Old Testament as in the New Testament is marked by - while being the mark of - conflict and of Triumph, of the dethronement of the powers of hell and the enthronement of the Power of the Might of His Strength wherein and whereby God raised Christ from the dead -- and, RESTED; 'rested, THE SEVENTH DAY' Throughout! You, reader, who reads, is confronted by Jesus Christ through the Day He is LORD of by virtue of attainment and victory over sin, devil and death. "Today, if you hear His Voice -- Jesus Christ Word of God -- Do not harden your heart!

 

The Psalmist says, quote, The fool, with his head in the air, says, there is no God. End quote.

I say, the hypocrite, with his chin floating where his eyes should, while taunting, There is no Sabbath, and blind, walks straight over hell's brim.

 

Why, is not the whole of this ‘3000 word essay’ in agreement with ‘accepted Bible translations’? Where is it I’m in disagreement with them? I did use the ‘accepted Bible translations’ – but to illustrate the NT –the Greek NT– meaning of the Shewbread, I referenced from the Septuagint –the Greek OT. Thanks in any case for the lecture in exegesis, but I’m not going to pay the bill.

“Will the leviathan make many supplications unto thee? Will he speak soft words unto thee? … He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be grey hair.” Despise not nor respect my grey hair for I am as an oar in the hand of God. Let Thee go of me I crash down seething deep; Lay Thee thine hand upon me, who will prevent me? My heart is as firm as a stone; my scales are the Words of God. They are joined together one to the other, that they cannot be sundered. I want to be God’s Leviathan! Trust Him!