Sabbath to Sabbath Laurie DeWitt Note: This was prepared for a powerpoint presentation. The marks *** and / represent slide changes. This is more of an outline than a manuscript. lld ***What did the Sabbath mean to God's people down through time? **Before sin /At Sinai /To Jesus /To Us Now/ In Heaven **Eden **Genesis 2:1 Thus 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. 4 This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created. ***--Sabbath open ended. No evening and morning the first day, etc. /--After creation mankind was to live harmoniously with each other and constantly be in communion with God. /--Every day was more glorious than Sabbath is now, but God chose a special day for special communication. /--Work was given to mankind, as God worked. God rested to show that man needed rest. ***At Sinai ***Exodus 20:8 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. ***--Sabbath a Celebration of our origins. /--Sabbath an acknowledgement of God's ownership of ourselves and the world /--Sabbath a very specific portion of our lives given in pursuing spiritual matters without any hindrances. /--God prepared a special blessing for His Sabbath so that His children could enjoy it even more. ***Deuteronomy 5:13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. ***--Sabbath - a reminder that we have been delivered from slavery through the mighty power of God. /--Slaves survive by working. Jesus said "I do not call you servants..." /--God gives us spiritual survival through His working. ***Jesus' ministry ***John 5:1-18 /--Chronic Disease. The man could have survived until Sunday /--Jesus broke laws of Pharisees, not laws of God. /--Lawful to do what Jesus tells you to do. /--God works on the Sabbath. ***John Chapter 9 /--Begins with a theological question /--Jesus used healing to make point. /--Lawful to do what Jesus tells you to do on Sabbath. (bathing) ***John Chapter 9 /--Pharisees said Jesus worked on the Sabbath. In this instance he mixed mud, and plastered the eyes of the blind man. Both forbidden tasks. /--The real issue: Could the eyes of the blind leaders (and blind disciples) be opened? ***Matthew 12:1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!" 3 But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 "how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 "Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? 6 "Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. 7 "But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 "For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." ***Disciples harvesting, threshing, and grinding. /Lawful needs of people are more important than rules. /The Sabbath is the Lord's day, to do with it what He will. /Jesus is concerned about our needs. /Some work has to be done on the Sabbath. God works on the Sabbath. God's priests work on the Sabbath. /Jesus did no work on the Sabbath to care for His own earthly needs. ***Jesus used the Sabbath: /--to heal those in physical discomfort /--To help the blind to see, and try to help the sighted see him. /--To satisfy the hunger of His disciples. /--To do for people individually what He did for Israel in delivering them from Egypt. ***Eternity ***Revelation 21:1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. ***Revelation 21:4 "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." 5 Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful." 6 And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. ***Isaiah 66:23 And it shall come to pass That from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me," says the LORD. ***Today ***Isaiah 62:2 Blessed is the man who does this, And the son of man who lays hold on it; Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And keeps his hand from doing any evil." /Isaiah 62:6 "Also the sons of the foreigner Who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, And to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants; Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And holds fast My covenant; ***Isaiah 58:13 "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, From doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy day of the LORD honorable, And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking your own words, 14 Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the LORD has spoken." ***Why did God give us the Sabbath? --He loves us enough to want our undivided attention from time to time. --To give us emotional, physical, spiritual rest. To let us revive. --He wants us to delight in our relationship with him. --To refresh our memory about the covenant relationship that He desires with us. ***How do we get the most out of the Sabbath that God has given us? ***NOT LIKE THIS Amos 8:5 Saying: "When will the New Moon be past, That we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, That we may trade wheat? Making the ephah small and the shekel large, Falsifying the scales by deceit, 6 That we may buy the poor for silver, And the needy for a pair of sandals; Even sell the bad wheat?" ***NOT LIKE THIS (Secretary with desk piled high) Amazed at those who say that they keep every day holy. Little girl who was trying to get dad's attention while he was reading paper. After several tries, the little head poked up between the paper and dad's face. Daddy I want to talk to YOU. ***NOT LIKE THIS (NYSE picture) /Leviticus 23:3 'Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings. ***Is observing Sabbath legalism? /Can be -- But shouldn't be. /You know that you are relating to Sabbath legalistically if: /You dread seeing it come and rejoice when it is gone. /You tell your friends that in your church you have to keep Sabbath. /You worry about forms and details and forget to commune with your maker. (You are a "Martha.") ***Sabbath observance is Not legalistic if it is: A delight A special time A reminder of our great salvation I don't have to keep Sabbath. I get to enjoy Sabbath. God gives me permission to relax and just hang out with Him for 24 hours!! ***Matthew 11:28 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." ***Are you ready to accept the rest that God has so lovingly provided? _..."For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."