Our Sabbath Rest

[Christsfreeservant]

Always, when we are teaching the Old Testament, if we want to apply it to the church today, what we teach must be in accord with the New Covenant Relationship God has with his people, for we are not under the Old Covenant.

We can’t teach Old Covenant theology to New Covenant people, in other words. But, a lot of what was under the Old Covenant is repeated for us under the New Covenant, so we would do well to understand that, too.

The other thing we need to understand, as students of the Word of God, is that the scriptures teach us that “ALL SCRIPTURE is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

So, there is much we can still learn from the Old Testament that can be applied to our lives today, providing it agrees with the New Covenant. So, today I am going to share with you what I believe the Lord is teaching me from this Old Testament passage of scripture, but according to the New Covenant Relationship we now have with God, by faith in Jesus Christ.

Jeremiah 17:19-23 ESV

Thus said the Lord to me: “Go and stand in the People's Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, and say: ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. Thus says the Lord: Take care for the sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers.’”​

First off, as believers in Jesus Christ, we are not under this Sabbath Law that the Jews were under. It is the only of the 10 commandments not repeated for us, the church, in the New Testament. For, our Sabbath rest is our salvation in Jesus Christ, our Lord (Hebrews 4:1-16) (1).

And, now we are the temple of God. God dwells in our hearts. The Holy of Holies is within us. And, now we worship God in spirit and in truth. And, we can come into God’s holy presence any time of the day or night no matter where we are, location wise. Amen!

So, today this would be like God instructing us to go where the people are gathering together – a place where presently we have a voice, which is not inside the institutional church, but it is on the internet. Right now, at least here in the West, we have the freedom to share our beliefs and our thoughts and opinions on the internet, but I know one day that will go away.

So, this would be like God instructing us to go on the internet or anywhere where people are gathered together and we have the freedom to share our beliefs. And, we are to go there to proclaim to them the Word of the Lord. And, all of us who are believers in Jesus Christ are to proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light, so this is not specific to just a small hand-picked group of people (1 Pet. 2:9).

What Should We Say?

So, what are we to say to the people? “Take care for the sake of your lives.”

Wow! That sounds very important! And, how do we take care for the sake of our lives? We leave our sins behind us to follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his will and to his ways. We surrender our lives to Jesus, and we make him Lord (King) of our hearts. We don’t carry the burden of sin anymore around with us, for now Jesus has lifted that burden for us when we enter into his rest, his Sabbath rest, which is our salvation from sin (Rom. 6:1-23).

We don’t bring that burden of sin with us into our relationships with Jesus Christ, i.e. into our Jerusalem. We leave them at the cross. For there we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are resurrected with Christ to newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).

And, the works we are to NOT do in our Sabbath Rest are the works of the flesh. For, as followers of Jesus, we are now to walk (conduct our lives) in accord with the Spirit of God and not in accord with the flesh. And, the works of the flesh include false righteousness, human effort to gain God’s approval, as well as immorality, lying, cheating and stealing, etc.

But, our Sabbath Rest, i.e. our salvation, is not absent of works, but they are the works of the Spirit done in the power of the Spirit as the workmanship of God, and as designed by God for us to walk in them (Eph. 2:10; Tit. 2:11-14; Rom. 2:6-8; 1 Co. 15:58; 2 Co. 9:8; Phil. 2:12-13).

And, we carry no burden with these works, because God carries that burden for us, for they are his works which he equips us to do (Matt. 11:28-30).

Keep the Sabbath Holy

And, then we are to keep the Sabbath holy. And, again, our Sabbath Rest is our salvation from sin, and that is what we are to keep holy by living holy lives pleasing to God in his power and strength at work within us.

We are to live lives which are separate (unlike, different) from the world, no longer conformed to the pattern of the world, but transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God away from sinful lifestyles to now following our Lord in obedience to his commands (Rom. 12:1-2).

So, we don’t adopt the ways of this sinful world as our ways, or their way of thinking, or their attitudes and philosophies. But, we adopt the ways of the Lord for our lives (1 Jn. 1:5-9; Eph. 4:17-24; Tit. 2:11-14; Rom. 8:1-17).

But, our lives are given over to God for his will and purposes and to serve him with our lives. He is our Lord (owner-master) and we are now to be slaves of his righteousness, no longer enslaved to sin (Rom. 6:1-23).

Jeremiah 17:23-24, 27 ESV

“Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, that they might not hear and receive instruction. But if you listen to me, declares the Lord,” then… “But if you do not listen to me,” then…​

Not everyone is listening to what the Lord is saying to his church right now. Not everyone who claims faith in Jesus Christ takes God and his word seriously. Not everyone believes that God will do what he said he would do.

For, not all of his promises are ones which people would want to receive. And, so they console themselves with the good promises of God which may not even apply to them, for they are conditional, while they ignore the ones they don’t like, and so they think they do not apply to them.

But, here is what the New Testament teaches us under the New Covenant Relationship God has with his church:

It says that if we walk according to the Spirit of God, in conduct, that we have eternal life with God. But, if we walk, in conduct, according to our flesh, we are going to die in our sins because we would not die to our sins (Lu. 9:23-26; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Gal. 5:16-21; Eph. 5:3-6; Gal. 6:7-8; Rom. 2:6-8; 1 Jn. 2:3-6).

So, some things never change. God still has stipulations for who is going to receive eternal life with him and who is not. We are going to be judged by what we do, either in obedience or disobedience to our Lord, and not by what we profess with our lips. If we walk by the Spirit, we have eternal life with God, but if we walk by the flesh, we are going to die in our sins.

So, take the Word of the Lord seriously, because he means what he says.

Soldiers of Christ Arise

Lyrics by Charles Wesley, pub. 1741

Soldiers of Christ, arise, and put your armor on,
Strong in the strength which God supplies, through His Eternal Son.
Strong in the Lord of Hosts, and in His mighty power,
Who in the strength of Jesus trusts is more than conqueror.

Stand then in His great might, with all His strength endued,
But take, to arm you for the fight, the panoply of God;
That, having all things done, and all your conflicts passed,
Ye may o’ercome through Christ alone and stand entire at last.

Leave no unguarded place, no weakness of the soul;
Take every virtue, every grace, and fortify the whole.
From strength to strength go on; wrestle, and fight, and pray;
Tread all the powers of darkness down and win the well-fought day.

*Caution: This link may contain ads

(1) Run With It: A Sabbath-Rest

 

[truthisfreedom2019]

It is true that we obtain true rest through Christ but if and when the day is not recognized then the servant and the ox that plows the field would be pretty disappointed with no longer getting the day of rest. The first Sabbath day was a rest and celebration of all that he made and he saw that it was good. By remembering the day as holy or unique we are remembering how the world came about and who made it. As God took time to observe his creation and rejoice in it, so can we. We can celebrate with him and enjoy the wonderful things he did but no one wants to burden anyone with their party, not even God. God bless you.

 

[Minister Monardo]

A day that fills all days.
Colossians 2:16, 17. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath, which are a shadow of things to come; but the body of Christ.

To fully understand how the sabbath is but a shadow of things to come requires wisdom from above. The sabbath is not simply one day out of the week where we are to refrain from working. If that were true, six days out of the week, there would only be 9 commandments.

Exodus 20:6. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

So we see that the command is actually zakar-'remember' the sabbath. For example, your work is piling up on a Wednesday and you know you should stay late to catch up. Then you get an invite to go out, and you are tempted to put it off. Then you remember the sabbath, and decide to stay behind to avoid a conflict with the 'day of preparation', to be home at sunset to keep sabbath. If we were observant to the Old Testament law, we would understand that the real significance of that day, that it is to fill all days, to anticipate that blessed day and plan our life around that day.
We look forward to a day when the Lord will return to give us rest. The day of the Lord is now for us the day we remember daily, to keep us holy. Ask yourself each morning, how would I live my life today, if I know Jesus would return, today. What can I do today to be sure that I will be ready to keep sabbath. To not only keep a day holy, but to be holy on that day.

 

[Christsfreeservant]

A day that fills all days.
Colossians 2:16, 17. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath, which are a shadow of things to come; but the body of Christ.

To fully understand how the sabbath is but a shadow of things to come requires wisdom from above. The sabbath is not simply one day out of the week where we are to refrain from working. If that were true, six days out of the week, there would only be 9 commandments.

Exodus 20:6. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

So we see that the command is actually zakar-'remember' the sabbath. For example, your work is piling up on a Wednesday and you know you should stay late to catch up. Then you get an invite to go out, and you are tempted to put it off. Then you remember the sabbath, and decide to stay behind to avoid a conflict with the 'day of preparation', to be home at sunset to keep sabbath. If we were observant to the Old Testament law, we would understand that the real significance of that day, that it is to fill all days, to anticipate that blessed day and plan our life around that day.
We look forward to a day when the Lord will return to give us rest. The day of the Lord is now for us the day we remember daily, to keep us holy. Ask yourself each morning, how would I live my life today, if I know Jesus would return, today. What can I do today to be sure that I will be ready to keep sabbath. To not only keep a day holy, but to be holy on that day.

To be holy every day.

 

[Religiot]

Always, when we are teaching the Old Testament, if we want to apply it to the church today, what we teach must be in accord with the New Covenant Relationship God has with his people, for we are not under the Old Covenant.

We can’t teach Old Covenant theology to New Covenant people, in other words. But, a lot of what was under the Old Covenant is repeated for us under the New Covenant, so we would do well to understand that, too.

The other thing we need to understand, as students of the Word of God, is that the scriptures teach us that “ALL SCRIPTURE is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

So, there is much we can still learn from the Old Testament that can be applied to our lives today, providing it agrees with the New Covenant. So, today I am going to share with you what I believe the Lord is teaching me from this Old Testament passage of scripture, but according to the New Covenant Relationship we now have with God, by faith in Jesus Christ.

Jeremiah 17:19-23 ESV

Thus said the Lord to me: “Go and stand in the People's Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, and say: ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. Thus says the Lord: Take care for the sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers.’”​

First off, as believers in Jesus Christ, we are not under this Sabbath Law that the Jews were under. It is the only of the 10 commandments not repeated for us, the church, in the New Testament. For, our Sabbath rest is our salvation in Jesus Christ, our Lord (Hebrews 4:1-16) (1).

And, now we are the temple of God. God dwells in our hearts. The Holy of Holies is within us. And, now we worship God in spirit and in truth. And, we can come into God’s holy presence any time of the day or night no matter where we are, location wise. Amen!

So, today this would be like God instructing us to go where the people are gathering together – a place where presently we have a voice, which is not inside the institutional church, but it is on the internet. Right now, at least here in the West, we have the freedom to share our beliefs and our thoughts and opinions on the internet, but I know one day that will go away.

So, this would be like God instructing us to go on the internet or anywhere where people are gathered together and we have the freedom to share our beliefs. And, we are to go there to proclaim to them the Word of the Lord. And, all of us who are believers in Jesus Christ are to proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light, so this is not specific to just a small hand-picked group of people (1 Pet. 2:9).

What Should We Say?

So, what are we to say to the people? “Take care for the sake of your lives.”

Wow! That sounds very important! And, how do we take care for the sake of our lives? We leave our sins behind us to follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his will and to his ways. We surrender our lives to Jesus, and we make him Lord (King) of our hearts. We don’t carry the burden of sin anymore around with us, for now Jesus has lifted that burden for us when we enter into his rest, his Sabbath rest, which is our salvation from sin (Rom. 6:1-23).

We don’t bring that burden of sin with us into our relationships with Jesus Christ, i.e. into our Jerusalem. We leave them at the cross. For there we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are resurrected with Christ to newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).

And, the works we are to NOT do in our Sabbath Rest are the works of the flesh. For, as followers of Jesus, we are now to walk (conduct our lives) in accord with the Spirit of God and not in accord with the flesh. And, the works of the flesh include false righteousness, human effort to gain God’s approval, as well as immorality, lying, cheating and stealing, etc.

But, our Sabbath Rest, i.e. our salvation, is not absent of works, but they are the works of the Spirit done in the power of the Spirit as the workmanship of God, and as designed by God for us to walk in them (Eph. 2:10; Tit. 2:11-14; Rom. 2:6-8; 1 Co. 15:58; 2 Co. 9:8; Phil. 2:12-13).

And, we carry no burden with these works, because God carries that burden for us, for they are his works which he equips us to do (Matt. 11:28-30).

Keep the Sabbath Holy

And, then we are to keep the Sabbath holy. And, again, our Sabbath Rest is our salvation from sin, and that is what we are to keep holy by living holy lives pleasing to God in his power and strength at work within us.

We are to live lives which are separate (unlike, different) from the world, no longer conformed to the pattern of the world, but transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God away from sinful lifestyles to now following our Lord in obedience to his commands (Rom. 12:1-2).

So, we don’t adopt the ways of this sinful world as our ways, or their way of thinking, or their attitudes and philosophies. But, we adopt the ways of the Lord for our lives (1 Jn. 1:5-9; Eph. 4:17-24; Tit. 2:11-14; Rom. 8:1-17).

But, our lives are given over to God for his will and purposes and to serve him with our lives. He is our Lord (owner-master) and we are now to be slaves of his righteousness, no longer enslaved to sin (Rom. 6:1-23).

Jeremiah 17:23-24, 27 ESV

“Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, that they might not hear and receive instruction. But if you listen to me, declares the Lord,” then… “But if you do not listen to me,” then…​

Not everyone is listening to what the Lord is saying to his church right now. Not everyone who claims faith in Jesus Christ takes God and his word seriously. Not everyone believes that God will do what he said he would do.

For, not all of his promises are ones which people would want to receive. And, so they console themselves with the good promises of God which may not even apply to them, for they are conditional, while they ignore the ones they don’t like, and so they think they do not apply to them.

But, here is what the New Testament teaches us under the New Covenant Relationship God has with his church:

It says that if we walk according to the Spirit of God, in conduct, that we have eternal life with God. But, if we walk, in conduct, according to our flesh, we are going to die in our sins because we would not die to our sins (Lu. 9:23-26; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Gal. 5:16-21; Eph. 5:3-6; Gal. 6:7-8; Rom. 2:6-8; 1 Jn. 2:3-6).

So, some things never change. God still has stipulations for who is going to receive eternal life with him and who is not. We are going to be judged by what we do, either in obedience or disobedience to our Lord, and not by what we profess with our lips. If we walk by the Spirit, we have eternal life with God, but if we walk by the flesh, we are going to die in our sins.

So, take the Word of the Lord seriously, because he means what he says.

Soldiers of Christ Arise

Lyrics by Charles Wesley, pub. 1741

Soldiers of Christ, arise, and put your armor on,
Strong in the strength which God supplies, through His Eternal Son.
Strong in the Lord of Hosts, and in His mighty power,
Who in the strength of Jesus trusts is more than conqueror.

Stand then in His great might, with all His strength endued,
But take, to arm you for the fight, the panoply of God;
That, having all things done, and all your conflicts passed,
Ye may o’ercome through Christ alone and stand entire at last.

Leave no unguarded place, no weakness of the soul;
Take every virtue, every grace, and fortify the whole.
From strength to strength go on; wrestle, and fight, and pray;
Tread all the powers of darkness down and win the well-fought day.

*Caution: This link may contain ads

(1) Run With It: A Sabbath-Rest

I thought the Sabbath was a gift from God to us.

I read the above, but you didn't show where the bible says that we are not supposed to keep the Sabbath anymore...

My understanding is that we are supposed to keep God's gifts, but if we reject God's gifts, then He will reject us.

 

[Minister Monardo]

In other words, do we keep the Sabbath holy, or does the Sabbath keep us holy?

 

[truthisfreedom2019]

God is the one that keeps his people holy. Matt. 28:19-20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teach them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matt. 23:2-3 saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them." The Pharisees may have had a negative heart toward the Sabbath but they did teach it.