What does it mean to "keep the Sabbath"? (Read question's description)

[simplejeff]

34 minutes ago, listener24 said:

You can make this comment under the tons of identical threads that, differently from this, just asks "should we keep it or not"?

Just a footnote of sorts,  and yet a main need:   follow who ?  (Jesus or other)  Who's Voice are people listening to ?

[Justin Adams]

1 hour ago, shiloh357 said:

Sabbath stuff is getting really annoying and we don't need others contributing to it

Perhaps soon even you might get the message...

I particularly like the royal "we" there...

Edited January 12, 2018 by Justin Adams

[MyLordsServant]

I can see we're on page 2 already, and no one has attempted to answer your question. Typical on this forum. Either someone is offended, rants about something irrelevant, posts opinions without reference, or whatnot. Also "some people" like coming on every single Sabbath thread, and complaining that people post Sabbath threads. Meanwhile complaining that it doesn't matter if you keep it or not. Ironic right.

You can highlight things, bold, underline, and somehow questions fly over their heads.

 

So I will try and answer as best I can.

Firstly, Jesus does teach how to keep the Sabbath, he does not disprove of it, and that's fact. However, he does not teach directly how to keep it, but rather indirectly. He teaches by a way of negation; discrediting the Pharisee's additions to Sabbath, to the reveal the true essence of Sabbath. Jesus taught from the basis of OT: Keep it Holy and rest from work.

So what is the true meaning of keeping Sabbath? Very simple, it is created for man to have rest. Not to be a burdensome thing, but rather to benefit us. In order to understand how to keep it, you must look at it as simply as possible. It's a set apart day for us humans. A day where you turn your attention away from all worldly things, and turn to God; keep the day Holy(set apart). No worrying about taxes, mortgage, bills, etc. I think by your question, you may be assuming there is a specific structure to keeping the Sabbath, as they did in OT. However, this is not the case.

Sabbath is made for man, therefore it is for us to decide how we keep it. 

If people want to work 7 days a week, that's fine. I would rather rest, meditate on God and delve into scripture. I don't see why people complain about keeping a day of rest, or why they find it burdensome. I wouldn't mind 3-4 Sabbaths every week.

[brakelite]

I love Isaiah's instruction on how to observe Sabbath.

"If thou turn way 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" Isa 58:13,14. Couple that with the commandment that forbids normal secular work (priests worked on Sabbath but their work was holy) and you have a day set for a blessing.

 

[Justin Adams]

5 hours ago, MyLordsServant said:

A day where you turn your attention away from all worldly things, and turn to God; keep the day Holy(set apart).

Revere the Lord on this set-apart day. He will not forget those that honor Him with their total being.

He knows how frail we are and how we love to spiritualize nuts and bolts. (a cop out) So He will definitely notice actual acts - physical things done and not done in His Honor.

[Blood Bought 1953]

Revere the Lord on this set-apart day. He will not forget those that honor Him with their total being.

 

Another option , in contrast to those who go to church on Sunday and forget it all come Monday,would be to “revere the Lord “ equally every day of the week. Think how pleasing it must be to God to see His Children truly Sabbathing, resting in the finished work of His Son

[frienduff thaylorde]

20 hours ago, brakelite said:

I love Isaiah's instruction on how to observe Sabbath.

"If thou turn way 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" Isa 58:13,14. Couple that with the commandment that forbids normal secular work (priests worked on Sabbath but their work was holy) and you have a day set for a blessing.

 

If thou turn way 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; 

THIS IS WHAT JESUS DID .      IT IS .    he taught we to do GOOD on the Sabbath , and HE SPOKE the words of GOD,  and HONORED the Father

This and every day is how we should walk IN HIM.    ONWARD BRAKELITE onward in the Lord .     JESUS is LORD of the Sabbath .   

ONWARD every day IN THE LORD,  labor ye to enter into that rest ,  that rest IS THE LORD , walk as DID HE .   amen.

[Persuaded]

Colossians 2:16-17 (NKJV) 16  So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.

Sabbath observation is a personal commitment, instituted by God FOR man. If we let modern law-keepers get us worked up over it, it’s purpose is defeated.

But the passage in Hebrews quoted further up the thread teaches the lesson that entering God’s rest is related to our obedience, and that not trusting God was what prevented the Israelites from entering the promised land, after the spies’ worrisome report (Numbers 13 & 14, or just 14:22-23). The rest available from God is not death -crossing Jordan (contrary to some of our hymns) is not going to heaven- but the land across the river was a model or type of that rest. The Sabbath is a similar picture of God's rest. I’ll suggest the blessing that God intends comes more from our trust in Him so that we realize we don’t need to work all seven days, than simply the benefit to us that a day off would provide.

And for the Law-keepers, I hope you’re not ignoring the other side of the Sabbath law, that we work SIX days each week. Sorry, no more watching kid’s soccer games on Saturday!

Exodus 20:9 (NKJV) Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

 

[simplejeff]

On 1/13/2018 at 1:10 AM, MyLordsServant said:

I think by your question, you may be assuming there is a specific structure to keeping the Sabbath, as they did in OT. However, this is not the case.

Sabbath is made for man, therefore it is for us to decide how we keep it. 

If people want to work 7 days a week, that's fine. I would rather rest, meditate on God and delve into scripture. I don't see why people complain about keeping a day of rest, or why they find it burdensome. I wouldn't mind 3-4 Sabbaths every week.

As noted in your more recent post,  this is worldly, carnal thinking, deceiving yourself.

[ytLiJC]

On 1/12/2018 at 1:57 PM, listener24 said:

Since I'm on this forum I'm reading countless threads about "keeping the Sabbath" (that's quite surprising cause I've never heard about these discussions elsewhere before, didn't know it was such an "hot topic" or relevant one in Christianity).

My question is: what does it mean to "keep the Sabbath"?

What a believer should practically do on Saturday to "keep the Sabbath"?

I've no idea about it because I usually read the Gospel and I don't find any indication on how a believer should concretely "keep the Sabbath", in other words I don't find any description on what's so special that a believer should do on Saturday, and not on Monday or Wednesday, in Jesus' words (let alone Thursday).

Nor I find anything special that Jesus was doing on Saturday, except doing the exact same things He was doing on other days, like Friday, and this way making some Pharisees angry because they didn't want Him to perform the same things He was doing on other days. (Mark 3:2, John 5:16-17, Matthew 12:10, and so on, like: "So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. In his defense Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.")

So I sincerely don't know what someone should do to "keep the Sabbath", after reading every single Jesus' word in the Gospel, I don't find even a clue in His words.

 

the biblical "sabbath" is when(ever) a spiritual servant or religious worshiper reaches a point of having an opportunity to work for overall sanctification and salvation through righteous faith in the One Who is really the true Lord God, and they should better use it to worship/serve Him through things such as "prayer" and "fasting" - at the very least (the minimum requirement for) the worshiper is to not defile the creature/creation, which means, to not commit spiritual lawlessness

Blessings