Sermon Central
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A Solution For Stress. Series
Contributed by Robert Fa’atoia-Collins on Jun 8, 2008 (message contributor)
Summary: How to be free from stress in this this life.
Some Christians keep Saturday as a day of rest, and worship, while others keep Sunday. In both groups can be found very sincere Christians, but there are many who have never stopped to consider why they keep a certain day. It’s really a custom; something handed down from one generation to another, but in most cases, no personal examination has been made to discover the reason why. God’s word the Bible, is the Christians’s authority, so here we will find the answer to the question, "Which day should Christians keep?"
Matthew 12:8 "For the Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath."
If Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath as this text clearly states, then the Sabbath is the Lord’s day. No other day has been set aside for worship other than the Sabbath, which today is commonly called Saturday. In Isaiah 58:13, the Sabbath is called "MY HOLY DAY"
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son, or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animal, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heavens and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."
To observe a weekly day of rest is certainly one way to relieve stress. There are many who say all is well providing we worship one day in seven, but God is specific. He says; "Remember the SABBATH day", not any other day. He further statae, "The SEVENTH DAY is the Sabbath". A look at most calendars shows Saturday to be the seventh day of the week. Some modern calendars are different in numbering days of the week, but this is a very recent change
"He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day HE went into the synagogue, as was HIs custom. And HE stood up to read."
When Jesus was in the flesh, and lived on this earth, how did He regard the Sabbath? This text shows His habit of Sabbath observance and church attendance. He made it, but He also kept it. He is our example.
Hebrew 13:8
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."
People change their views and ideas, but God is perfect - He never changes. In His sight good is always good and evil is always evil. His principles of righteousness are eternal.
" Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done."
Here is this world’s first Sabbath. God set the example by working six days and rested on the seventh. Notice how He blessed this day. To bless means to make happy, but obviously it has a deeper meaning than mere surface happiness - it involves real satisfaction. Secondly, God blessed it, or "set it apart" for a holy use. It was a day different from all other days. No matter how sincerely a person may keep another day other than the Sabbath, it does not make it a holy day. Only God can make a day holy. Thirdly, it is a rest day.
So the question we can ask is;
How Can We Locate The Seventh Day In The Bible?
Luke 23:54,56; 24:1
"It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. Onb the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb."
The day before the Sabbath is called the preparation day. The day after the Sabbath is called the first day of the week. The Sabbath is the seventh day. Today we call the preparation day - Friday, and the first day - Sunday, so Saturday is the seventh day of the Bible.
Some feel that time has been lost and we cannot be certain. This is a good observation, but let us consider evidence from three areas:
1. The Jewish Nation
The Jews have always been very strict regarding Sabbath observance and would never change. Today they still observe Saturday as Sabbath. They were wrong in rejecting the True Messiah - Christ, but are right regarding the day of worship.
