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SUNDAY CHURCHES ARE MISSING THIS KEY POINT OF FAITH REGARDING THE SEVENTH DAY SABBATH - THE SIGN OF FAITH IN GOD'S COMPLETE AND PERFECT SANCTIFICATION
I have had so many discussions concerning the 7th day Sabbath with Sunday keeping (or no day keeping) Christians, and it always ends up in a discussion about the law, with them stating ... "we are no longer under the law, you are trying to be saved by works", and they completely miss the key point of FAITH regarding the seventh day Sabbath. So what is this key point they miss? Let's take a look.
Genesis 2:1-3 ...'Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he
rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God
created and made.'
Just stop and think about this for a moment. The only place we get the 7 day weekly cycle from is the creation account in the Bible. So your Creator; your GOD, set up the 7 day weekly cycle and did something with the 7th day. He "blessed and sanctified it." He made the 7th day a HOLY day. So your GOD is telling you ... "I have made the 7th day of the week HOLY." Now if God told you that face to face, what would you think? Would you say, "nah, that doesn't matter!"? Or would you say, "Ok Lord, you have made it holy so I will treat it as holy."? Well, your creator and God HAS told you just that through His Word.
Just take that in for a moment. Your creator and your God has told you that He has made one specific day of the week HOLY TIME. And who is your creator? Is it not Jesus Christ, the Son of God? Is He not the one who set aside the 7th day to be holy time? Remember what Jesus said?
Mark 2:27-28 ...'And he said unto them, the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.'
This verse is very interesting and yet so many Christians miss the beauty and truth of these words of Christ. For some strange reason, Christians use this verse against Sabbath keeping, just because Jesus said that man wasn't made for the Sabbath. Yes, that's right! Man was NOT made for the Sabbath - the Sabbath was made FOR man. So just take that in for a moment. The Lord MADE the Sabbath FOR YOU! He made a specific day - the 7th day - as a holy day in which you can receive a blessing. So are you now going to turn around and say ... "thanks Lord, but I don't need or want your gift."? If so, you are going to miss out on a great blessing - one that may even cost you life itself!
Please understand this. What attribute does God have? He is HOLY right? (Isaiah 6:3). And what makes anything else holy? It is the presence of our holy God (Exodus 3:5). It was only the presence of God that made the ground where Moses stood holy. So what do you think makes the 7th day Sabbath holy? It is the very sanctifying presence of God! Yes, God sends His Spirit and angels to help and guide us other days too. But no other day has the special sanctifying presence of God like the 7th day of the week. Which is why Jesus said that He is also "Lord of the Sabbath." The other six days were merely the days that the Lord created all things on - work days. But the 7th day is a day all by itself, in that it was set apart for holy use and fellowship with the Lord. Again, which is why Jesus never said He was Lord of any other day, but the Sabbath!
So God sanctifies the 7th day of the week with His presence. What else does God want to sanctify? YOU and I. But how can God sanctify us fully when we refuse to meet with Him on the specific day He made holy for that sanctification work to be complete?
If a doctor sets a day for you to go to him, so he can fix your broken leg, but you decide to choose your own day, is the doctor going to be there to fix your leg? No! In the same way, God has set a specific day for us to meet with Him, so He can bless us with His holy sanctifying presence and heal us.
Why do you think so many churches and Christians are failing in their walk and still struggling in sin? Because they have rejected the very day in which God wants to especially bless, heal and sanctify us. Even God Himself was 'refreshed' by the 7th day Sabbath (Exodus 31:17). So don't you think we will especially be refreshed by keeping that day holy for God? Oh.. If we would only seek the blessing of God more thoroughly, we would be healed!
But why do many 'Saturday keepers' continue to struggle in sin and weakness? Because they too do not understand what the Sabbath is about, which is why I call them 'Saturday keepers.' They are not Sabbath keepers, they merely keep Saturday because they think they have to! It is not done out of faith or a proper understanding of what the Sabbath is about. Therefore they neither receive the full sanctifying presence of God in their lives.
Isaiah 58:13-14 ...'If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.'
Now how do we know that the 7th day of creation is actually the Sabbath DAY? Some people say that the seventh day of creation was not the weekly Sabbath. But God confirmed this in the 4th commandment, look:
Exodus 20:8-11 ...'Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 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.'
Do you see? God is referring to creation week in the 4th commandment. Do you see that God is calling the seventh day of creation - "the SABBATH DAY"? God is pointing us back to creation week and is confirming that the seventh day of creation, the day He blessed and sanctified IS THE SABBATH DAY!
Now please understand this. How many Jews were there at creation? NONE! And what sin was there at creation? NONE! Do you understand what this means? It means exactly what Jesus told us .. "the Sabbath was MADE FOR MAN." It wasn't made for the Jews and it wasn't given after sin. Read the 4th commandment again. God said we are to keep the Sabbath day because of His creative work! LOOK - read it again:
Exodus 20:8-11 ...'Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God ... FOR - [BECAUSE] 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.' [Word in brackets added for clarity].
Do you see it? The 7th day Sabbath was given, not because of the Jews or sin, or because God simply added it to His law - But because God is our Creator and He created this world in 6 days and made the seventh day HOLY for us to acknowledge Him as our Creator and spend the day with Him to receive that sanctifying blessing from it. It was given to ALL mankind for ALL eternity!
Isaiah 66:22-23 ...'For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.'
This is the key point regarding the 7th day Sabbath - There doesn't even need to be any discussion about keeping the Sabbath because of the law, as God instituted the 7th day Sabbath and set that day apart from all other days at creation BEFORE sin even came into this world. Showing the Sabbath was made for ALL mankind for ALL eternity. And we keep it BY FAITH, not just because it is part of the ten commandments, but because we acknowledge God as our Creator and Redeemer who sanctifies us. The Sabbath is a sign to show who truly loves the Lord and have FAITH in Him to make us complete and perfect in Him, just as creation was complete and perfect in the beginning before sin.
Exodus 31:13 ...'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.'
Keeping the seventh day Sabbath is a sign that we are seeking, BY FAITH, the Lord to sanctify us. Do you see? It is a FAITH issue! The Sabbath is a sign of God's perfect creation and it is also a sign of His perfect RE-creation - sanctification - in our lives.
Some Christians reject this, saying "Jesus IS our Sabbath rest, so we don't need to keep any day." Sorry, but that is NOT 'resting in Christ.' You cannot rest in Christ and at the same time ignore His holy day which He set aside at creation FOR US. That is not faith and it is not resting in Christ. That is following your own way.
What the Sunday churches are not realizing is that Adam and Eve also rested in Christ before they sinned, for He clothed them in righteousness and if they remained IN Him, they would have never sinned and would have lived forever. And yet the Sabbath day was still given to Adam and Eve and ALL their descendents BEFORE sin came into the world. Sadly, they didn't remain IN Christ and they fell into sin and disobedience. But sin NEVER changed the fact that we rest in Christ and live in Him. And if Christ gave the Sabbath to Adam and Eve BEFORE they sinned, then how much more do we need it now, when the world is DROWNING in sin?
By keeping the 7th day Sabbath as the Lord's holy day, we are acknowledging that the Lord is our God and we are placing our complete faith in Him as the one who sanctifies us. And remember what we said further above about the special sanctifying presence of God upon the Sabbath day? But if we reject the 7th day Sabbath and keep a tradition of man (Sunday), or no day at all, then we are showing that our faith is NOT in the Lord, but in man instead. And thus we CANNOT receive sanctification, and neither justification, as we can only be justified through FAITH in God's Word!
Do you understand that? We are saved BY FAITH - which includes FAITH in God's Word! - "The 7th day Sabbath is my holy day" (Isaiah 58:13) ... "it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." (Exodus 31:13)
Let me quickly clear up another point about the popular [false] statement ... "the Sabbath was for the Jews only." Do you know what happens to us when we accept Christ as Lord and Saviour? We become 'grafted into the vine.' We become JEWS! (Ephesians 2:19, 3:6, Romans 11:17)
Isaiah 56:4-7 ...'For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer.'
God's promise and blessing was for EVERYONE who would take hold of Him, not just the Jews. So will YOU take hold of God by faith and trust in Him, rather than trusing in man and his traditions?
Please see from our Sabbath website - WHERE DID SUNDAY KEEPING COME FROM?