Spiritual Observance of the Sabbath

There are all kinds of funny ideas floating out in society about the Sabbath day. I bet if I were to ask you what your friends or neighbors or someone said to you when they first met, you were keeping the Sabbath, all of you would have some stories to tell. I remember when I first learned about the Sabbath, and we were living on a farm, we were sharecroppers at that time.

The owner of the farm kept asking my mother and me, what do the Seventh Day Adventists believe about such and such? I would say, I have no idea. Well, you keep the Sabbath. They thought that anybody who kept the Sabbath had to be a Seventh Day Adventist, or perhaps a Jew. They never did ask me about the Jews, but it was always this. Every month or so, they would come back, same question. They kept asking it over and over. There are a lot of religionists today who believe that it's impossible to keep the Sabbath, because if you did, you would freeze to death. Now, you would think, what does that have to do with anything?

Well, supposedly, they go back to the Old Testament, where it says that you're not to light a fire. So they said, if you lived up in Minnesota, or could be down in Atlanta this winter, and your fire goes out, and it's 20 below zero, you can't light a fire on the Sabbath, and you would therefore freeze to death. That's their reasoning. Others say, well, if you keep the Sabbath, you can't walk out of your house on the Sabbath, because there's a scripture that says that you're not to go out of the door of your house.

So the fact that you and I have come out of the door of our house, we've come out of the door of our car, we've walked through those doors back there. They would say that we're not keeping the Sabbath. Our past influences, though, on us, all of us, determine to a certain extent how we keep the Sabbath. When we came into the church, you think back when you started observing the Sabbath.

What was your approach to the Sabbath? Did you keep it like you observed Sunday? I've known people who started observing the Sabbath, and the only difference is that they just shift days. Whatever they did on Sunday, they now do on Saturday. Then there are others who begin to read the Bible, and they say, well, the Sabbath is a day you can't do anything.

They wouldn't dare wash a dish. They wouldn't dare eat anything or heat anything up, or whatever it might be. People in society today think that the Sabbath is a burden. It's a thing that is a real burden. The reason why many believe that, or reason that way, is because they observe the Orthodox Jews. They see these people. I don't know how many of you have ever been in a big city like New York, Chicago, or San Francisco, where you're in the Jewish community.

You see these people walking to the synagogue on the Sabbath. All the fellows are dressed in their black suits and robes. They've got their wide black rim hats on. They've got their hair coming down the side of their faces. Their wives are dressed in similar clothing. They're going to church. So people say, if that's what it takes to keep the Sabbath, or to observe the Sabbath, or to keep that old law the way they would like to describe it, then I don't want to have anything to do with it.

Brethren, we have the example of Jesus Christ on how to keep the Sabbath. That's the example that we should follow, and we're going to take a look at that today. I think many times we overlook the real purpose and spirit of how to keep the Sabbath. You might remember, and I remember very well years ago, that sometimes the best sermons that you could hear on the Sabbath day, or those sermons that would go down through a list or a litany of 30 questions that people would ask, Can I pick up my mail on the Sabbath? Can I read a paper on the Sabbath?

Can I turn the TV on the Sabbath? Can you listen to music on the Sabbath? Can you wash a dish on the Sabbath? And so those were easy sermons to give. Yes, no, yes, yes, yes, no. You could go down the line giving that, but it became a religion of just stipulations. Actually, what God wants us to learn is what is the real purpose of the Sabbath and how to keep it. Why did God create this day? Why are we here? Why are we observing the Sabbath day? And why do we keep it? There is a purpose for the Sabbath. Let's go over to Mark 2, verse 27. Let's start by seeing what the Bible has to say about the purpose of the Sabbath.

Mark 2, and we'll begin to read in verse 27. He said to them, The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. Now let's notice very clearly and carefully what this verse says.

First of all, the Sabbath was made. So there is a maker. Sabbath had a maker. If you create something or make something, what if you make or create an airplane, a car, a computer, a toy, a meal, anything? You have a reason and purpose for doing so. My wife makes dinner about 100% of the time in our household. She's the cook. I'm the eater. She will make it. Why is she making that? We set it over on the counter and say, Isn't that beautiful? That's lovely. Let's just look at it. Let's just smell the aroma. We let it sit there for a week or two, looking at it, and the aroma changes.

No, that's not why she makes dinner. She makes it so we can eat. Anyone who makes something has a purpose, a reason behind it. We find here the Sabbath was made. It says, The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. The Sabbath has a maker, and the maker of the Sabbath is God. So God made it. And we find here He made it for man. So it's God's gift to the human race.

It's a gift that God has given to us. Did He make it so it could be a burden? And the answer is no. He made it to serve mankind. He made it to help mankind. He made it to aid mankind. He made it for our good. When you make something and you give it as a gift to someone, and it's for their good, it's to help them.

Then, you know, that's something that you can take a great deal of pleasure in. And so when we look at the Sabbath day, we look at a day that God created for us. Now the Jewish approach is that man was made to serve the Sabbath.

You have a Sabbath day, and so man serves it. He's got to be very careful. There are all these dos and don'ts that are established to make sure that you keep it. In verse 28, Christ said, Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath. Actually, that's a stunning statement. Christ is Lord, or Master of the Sabbath. How could that be? The Father created the Sabbath day through the One who became the Messiah. In the Old Testament, God said, Let there be light, and there was light. God recreated in Genesis 1 the earth. The Sabbath was created. The One doing that, the One actually creating, was the One who became Jesus Christ. He and His Father had planned all this out. Now when you're Lord and Master of something, you have authority over it. You're the Lord, you're the Master. And the Sabbath day, Jesus Christ Himself is the Lord and Master.

One of the Greek lexicons has this to say about being the Lord of the Sabbath day. The One who rules or exercises authority over others, a ruler, a Lord, or a Master. Then it goes on to talk about where you find it in other scriptures like Matthew 6.24, where we read that no one can serve two Masters. So what you find, Christ is the ruler of the Sabbath. He is the One who has the right to tell us how to keep it. So the New Testament scriptures emphatically state that Jesus Christ rules the Sabbath day. He's over it. He has the authority to show us how to observe it. That's by example. And He tells us how to observe it. That's through direct instructions. So in two ways, by example, by instruction, we find that we learn how to keep the Sabbath. I'm glad I didn't write any notes on my hands. It's been a big controversy this week. Politicians writing notes on their hands on what they're going to say. I guess you're not supposed to hold your hand up like that, so I better turn it over. So in case I did write notes on it, Christ has that authority. He is the Master. He is the ruler. Now in Genesis 2, we go back to where the Sabbath day was made or created, and we'll see another purpose. We've already established one of the purposes for the Sabbath. It was made for man. It was made for our good, our aid, to help us. Now in chapter 2, beginning in verse 1, Thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished.

So the physical creation was finished or ended. In fact, in the Hebrew, one of the implications of this word tells us it's used in the sense of ending a race. You run the race, you cross the finish line, and it's over. You finish the race. So in a sense, here God finishes the creation. Now, we go on in verse 2.

It says, On the seventh day God ended his work, which he had done. He rested on the seventh day from all his work, which he had done.

Have you ever asked yourself why in chapter 1 of the book of Genesis does it say, The evening in the morning was the first day, the evening in the morning was the second day, the evening in the morning was the third day, fourth day, fifth day, sixth day? Well, guess what? God wants us to learn that there's a seven-day week. In six days, God creates. Six days, he restores the earth. In six days, he makes it suitable for man to live on. Then we come to the seventh day. Now, one reason why this is important, there are those who will tell you, I keep the Sabbath, but I keep the Sabbath on Sunday. They'll tell you, I keep the Sabbath on Friday, or I keep the Sabbath on whatever. And you ask them, what are you talking about? The very definition of the Sabbath is the seventh day. And they will say, no, any time that I devote to God, that I decide that I'm going to rest, and devote it to God, to worship God, that's the Sabbath day. Now, is that what the Bible says? Yes. No, the Bible says six days, and then guess what? We come to the seventh day. And that's what Genesis 2 is talking about. Chapter 1 clearly identifies six days of creation. He worked on every one of those days. He comes to the seventh day, he ends his work, and he rests on the seventh day. Now, why did God rest? Does God get tired? Is he weary? Was he all worn out? Did he say, I've expended too much energy? Well, God says he doesn't get tired. God did this to set us an example. That's why he did it. He didn't have to rest. He did it to set us an example and to show that there's a change of pace. He had been working, he stopped working. He set an example for the rest of mankind. The word rest means to rest or to cease from work or to terminate activity. So God terminated the activity that he had been in. So his activity had been creation, now his activity was resting. And God set an example, the whatever activity that you and I are involved in the other six days of the week, we cease. If you're a carpenter, you cease carpeting. If you're an electrician, you cease electric-tritioning or whatever electricians do. Whatever it is that you do for your labor, you stop it and you rest. Now God did something else in verse 3. We read here in verse 3, Then God blessed the seventh day, and he sanctified it, because in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made. Now God blessed this day. Didn't bless just any old day. Didn't bless the sixth day. Didn't say five days and a half, I'm going to bless. He blessed the seventh day. Now why? Well, it says here, because in it he rested. So this day is to convey a blessing. God blesses it. You and I keep it. We likewise will be blessed. Bless carries a meaning also of praise with it. So when God blessed this day, and when we say that this is a day that has been blessed by God, it means it's a day that has been set aside for honor and praise. That we acknowledge that it has a different purpose than all of the other days of the week. Now God sanctified the day. Now why sanctify it? What does the word sanctified mean? Well, again, because he rested. Word sanctified means he set it apart. So today, the seventh day, is a day that has been set apart. It is a different day. And it has also been made holy, which means to set apart. So it's been set apart by God. His presence is in it. His blessings are on it. It is a day that he has set an example for the rest of us. Now with that in mind, in Exodus 31, Exodus 31, verse 16, we read more information about the Sabbath.

Exodus 31, verse 16, Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. Okay, you could say, well, we're not Israelites today, so therefore we don't have to do this.

Do I need to remind you that the Sabbath was made for man? It doesn't say Israelites. It says it was made for man. The word there means mankind, humankind. So it wasn't just made for Israel. It was given to Israel here, yes. Because they were God's chosen nation. They were the only one God was working with at that time. And when God begins to work with the people, today he's working with his church. Then he reveals to them his laws and his way of life, how to be holy, how to honor him. So verse 16 again, it is a perpetual covenant. It is a sign, God says, between me and the children of Israel forever. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested.

And the Bible says he was refreshed. So God was refreshed on this day. Now it is a sign, God says.

From God's perspective, and too often we just look at the Sabbath from our own little perspective, but from God's perspective it helps to identify his people. Who are his people? Well, his people are those who are willing to obey him. And one of the commandments is the Sabbath. The one commandment that has been changed, nullified, shot full of holes, ridiculed, made fun of, done away with, not by God but by human reasoning, is the Sabbath. It shows to God our willingness to obey him. And when we are faced with the test of, should I work on the Sabbath or not? And we prove that we are not going to work on the Sabbath. It shows to God that we have put him first. Matthew 6, 33, CQ first, the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And then it says, all these things will be added. The word refreshed in Hebrew means to cease from an activity. Now that's what God did. He ceased from the activity that he had been doing, resulting in rest. So God stopped. He stopped laboring and refreshed from a weary state.

And so God knows that as human beings, we go, many of us, flat out for six days. We're just going and doing. And all at once, at sunset Friday night, the switch is pulled. And you have to put the brakes on, stop, and say, that's it. And you are to be refreshed. God was able on the Sabbath day to look back over all of the recreation, everything that he had done. And as we read back in Genesis chapter 1, if you read the last verse of Genesis 1, God looked on it all. And what did he say? That it was good. God looked back and he looked at the fact that he created the animals, created all the flora and fauna. He had created mankind. He had a beautiful earth. Everything functioning the way that it should. And he reflected on his plan and his purpose for mankind. He realized that this was the beginning of the plan of salvation. That he had thought it out, planned it. They brought this into function. Man is created at last. And it's through mankind reproducing that human beings were going to be created and then they would be added to his family eventually. They'd be given the opportunity for salvation. So God thought all of this out. So he reflected on it. And probably on the Sabbath he took the time to instruct Adam and Eve in the way of righteousness, the way to do things. What is right? What is wrong? Now, for us, we are refreshed because it gives us an opportunity to get a good night's sleep, to rest. You don't have to jump up at five in the morning, leave the house at six, rush off down the road to go to work. You can sleep in a little later. It is not called the day of sleep.

Now, I mention that because some people think the Sabbath day is a day of sleep. When our boys were growing up, and I don't know about these young fellas, but when our boys were growing up, if we didn't say get up, they would sleep to twelve or one o'clock. And we'd wake them up and say, you've got to go to church. Well, they never had that luxury. Our sons always ran the circuit with us. And so when we walked out the door at six or seven in the morning, they walked out the door at six or seven in the morning. And they were with us all day, four hours this way, four hours back that way. And they might grumble or gripe a little bit, but they not really. They always look forward to seeing their friends on both ends of the circuit. But it's not called the day of sleep. It's called a day of rest. Now, part of resting is sleeping, yes. But I just mentioned that because sometimes we can fall into the habit of just using the day totally to sleep. What it means is that we cease our normal activities. Whatever they might be on them, we begin to focus on God. We have the opportunity of resting. God knows that our physical bodies need rejuvenation. We need a time to change pace, to draw closer to God, more time to pray and study. Come together with God's people, fellowship, and have that wonderful opportunity. Now, in Exodus 20, if you'll back up to Exodus 20 in verse 8.

This is where the Ten Commandments are listed. Sabbath day is right in the middle of them. Verse 8, remember the Sabbath day.

And what is part of what we are to remember? Remember to keep it holy. We are to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.

Now, you can't keep something holy that is not holy to start with. If I were to give you a pan of ice water and say, I want you to keep this pan of ice water hot, and you hold it and it freezes your hands, and you say, well, this isn't hot water, it's ice water. It is ice water. In order to keep it hot, it has to be hot. In order for us to keep a day holy, it has to be holy.

Now, those who claim that because they decide on a day, and they decide on a time or an hour that they're going to devote the God, and therefore that time holy and the Sabbath are totally deceiving themselves, are totally in ignorance. Holy time must be kept in a holy manner, and only God can make something holy.

Are you holy? Well, you and I are to be holy in the sense that we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. But when I ask that question, I'm asking the question from the perspective, are you holy innately? When a child is born, is it holy? When you're five years old, are you holy, are ten years old, are twelve or a hundred? Only if God is dwelling in us, and we have His character, do we begin to take on His holiness. And the Bible says that we are to become holy, as our Father is. But only God, as a holy being in His very essence, His very being, can make something holy.

And God's essence has to be put within us. So God is the one who makes something holy. The word holy means to separate, to consecrate, to dedicate, to set apart. God set apart the seventh day. Not the sixth day, or the eighth day, or any other day. Now in verse 9 says, six days you shall labor and do all your work. 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. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. So we come back to that principle again. Therefore, summary, the Lord bless the Sabbath day, and He hallowed it. He set it apart. So not to work, you are your employees or your family. As long as you have responsibility over them, they're not to work. Must you work six days? I remember when we went to Ambassador College, it was thought that if you didn't work six days a week, you were breaking this principle. As the Bible said, work six days, rest the seventh. And even Mr. Armstrong felt that. Then one day he was asked the question, and he began to study it. And he came to realize what the Bible says is that you have six days that you may work, but it doesn't command that you take a day off. What if you want to go fishing one day? What if you decide to take a vacation, take a week off? Is that wrong? And he had to come and admit that it was not something that was wrong. You can work, but you don't have to. You have permission to work six days a week, but when it comes to the seventh, it is not a day that you work on. When you and I rest on the Sabbath, who are we imitating? Who do we imitate? We imitate God, don't we? In Hebrews 4, let's read Hebrews 4, beginning in verse 9, Hebrews 4, and verse 9.

It says, There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. If you remember here in Hebrews 3 and 4, it's looking forward to the time of future rest, the time of the millennium. But here we find there remains therefore a rest, or I believe it's the King James version says, the keeping of the Sabbath, for the people of God. For he who has entered into his rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from his. Now, a lot of theologians will tell you, well, this is talking about that you and I have ceased from our works of sin, and therefore we imitate God. God ceased from his work, but the question is, did God cease from works of sin? Did he ever sin? The only example we have in the Bible of God ceasing from labor is on the seventh day he ceased from physical labor. So he who has entered his rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from his. So you and I are deceased from our works just as God ceased from his.

And by so doing, we set an example. Now, how do we keep the Sabbath day in a holy manner, in a manner that God wants us to? How has God determined this day should be observed? He has set it apart. He is Lord and Master. As I explained to start with, we have the example of Christ. We have the instructions of Christ. So we want to focus on those. But let's turn back to chapter 10 here in the book of Hebrews while we're here. Chapter 10, we'll begin to read in verse 19. Hebrews 10, verse 19. Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, you and I today can enter into the very holy of holies, the very throne room of God through our prayers, supplications to God, by a new and a living way, which he consecrated for us through the veil, that is, his flesh. So the veil was ripped in two when Christ was crucified. Christ's flesh was ripped, and it made it possible for us to be able to enter into the holy of holies. The holy place symbolized the church, the holy of holies, God's throne in heaven. So now we have direct access to the Father in heaven. Then, verse 21.

And be absolutely assured of what we believe, and know what we believe without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. So our God, our Father, is faithful. If he promises to do something for us, he will do it! In verse 24, let us consider one another. So, brethren, how are we to consider each other? Notice. In order to stir up love and good works. So we want to stir one another up to love and good works.

Now, how do we do that? Well, one way is identified in verse 25. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some, but exhorting one another. And so much the more, as you see the day approaching.

Let me quote here from the Epistle to the Hebrews, the commentary on the Greek text. What it has to say about verse 25. It says, verse 24 and 5, the mutual care which the author has commended to his readers, in verse 24, cannot be sustained unless members of the Christian community meet to encourage and to exhort one another.

We need to meet together to encourage and exhort. Failure to do so is associated with apostasy, verses 26 and 28, though the author does not claim a direct casual link between the two. Now verse 25 says that we are not to forsake. When you forsake something, we don't know what that word means. You no longer pay any attention to it. You forsake it. If you forsake cutting your grass, what happens? Your grass grows. You forsake it. If you forsake taking care of your automobile, eventually it's going to break down. If you forsake putting gas in your gas tank, guess what? You will run out of gas. I used to do that, and we first got married quite often. I tell my wife, well, I know when it's on empty that there's at least two more, three more gallons. We can get another 50 miles and somewhere around 30, chug, chug, and we'd run out of gas. Guess who would have to go walking? It wasn't my wife. After a while, I learned when it gets down toward a half or lower, you go ahead and fill the tank up. So we don't do that. When you forsake something, you don't do it anymore. It's talking about those who forsake the assembling of themselves together.

This is another commentary from the complete word-study dictionary of the Bible, talking about verse 25. Hebrews 10.25 does not merely denote the assembling for corporate worship as a solitary or an occasional act. It's something you just do occasionally. But as a customary conduct, it's habitual. The preposition epi, 2, must refer to Christ Himself as the one to whom this assembly was attached. Thus, it would have the meaning of not betraying one's attachment to Jesus Christ and other believers, not avoiding one's own personal responsibility as part of the body of Christ. We have a responsibility to come here and to realize that on the Sabbath day, where is Christ? He's with His body. He's with His church. Where we are assembled, He will be there with us. And He's here to lead and guide and to direct us. And then when we're fellowshiping with one another, He's there in our midst to encourage us. Rather than it is so easy to begin to set aside the Sabbath in the sense of just staying home. It's easy not to have to get up, get dressed, do anything. It just can become a habit. So verse 25 says, As we read back in verse 21, We worship God on this day. See, I've had people tell me, well, I can worship God anytime. I can worship God at home. Well, sure you can. Let me explain the difference. There is what is called individual worship of God, and there is collective worship of God. Individually, we can all come together. Well, individually, you can by yourself pray, you can study, you can go around your house singing, you can keep in a good frame of mind, you can try to overcome, you can send your tithes in. You can do things that you should do individually to worship God. There are things that we do individually that show our worship of God, that we're putting Him first. Collectively, there are things that we do to show God that we are worshiping Him. When do we collectively come before God to worship Him? It is on the Sabbath day and on the annual holy days of God that we come before our Maker to collectively gather together as a group, as a household, as a family of God to worship our Maker. Now, how do we worship God when we come together? We sing. That's part of worship. We pray. We fellowship. As verse 24 says, we stir one another up to love. We stir to good works. We inspire. We encourage. We lift up. We instruct. We help. We comfort. You could go on and add probably several dozen different things that we do on the Sabbath day. Our sitting at home, even if we're listening to a tape, a tape only goes so far to a live transmission. There is the benefit of the body coming together. The energy that the whole body takes from one another, the spiritual contact that we have with one another, the inspiration that we get from one another, the help we receive from one another. You don't get that alone. You receive that when you come together. And you'll notice the word, together. You need to stop and just think about each one of these words separately. Together implies a close association of love for God's people. We're together. We're not apart. We're not separated. We're together. We love one another enough that we want to come together to express our love and our concern on a regular basis. As the Complete Word Study dictionary has to say, the opposite of this is to desert or leave stranded, to abandon. It refers, rather, to the separating of one's cells from the local Christian community. Then it goes on to add, as a side note, often back at that time, it was because of the dread of persecution. If you assembled with others, you were persecuted. So therefore, a lot of times, people wouldn't do so. Now verse 25 goes ahead and says, as is the manner of some.

So not everybody was doing this, but some were doing this. And they were not meeting together. It is easy, as I articulated earlier, to fall into this pitfall. It's easy to stay home, to sleep in, to spend a little time with our family, our immediate family, not with the family of God. It should be our habit, our custom, our way of life, our tradition, to be able to meet together. Now we all realize that there are circumstances such as health, sickness, distance, weather that might prevent it. But those are not the general norm, are they? Those come along generally occasionally, and they sidetrack any one of us. In Luke 4, verse 16, we find the example of Jesus Christ that ties in with this. Luke 4, verse 16.

Talking about Jesus Christ, so He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, see something that we do habitually, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. So He taught them. Acts 17, verse 2.

The apostle Paul, the one who was the apostle to the Gentiles, Acts 17, and verse 2. Paul, as His custom was, went into them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures. And then He explained and preached to them. In Leviticus, chapter 23, and verses 1 through 3. Leviticus 23, verses 1 through 3. We read this. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, the feast of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations. Even these are my feasts. Then verse 3. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh is the Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation, a separated assembly.

It is hallowed, set apart. You shall do no work on it. It is the Sabbath of the Lord in all of your dwellings. And so it was a holy assembly, a commanded assembly. Now we're told back in Hebrews 10.25 again that we are to do something. As we get close to the end, as the end time approaches, we are to exhort and to encourage one another. Are we getting closer to the end time? Can we see prophecies beginning to be fulfilled? Can we see the prophecies concerning Israel and our economic woes, our political woes, our moral decline, all of the problems that God prophesied in the Scriptures that would come upon the peoples of Israel? Do not we see those things transpiring and taking place around us? We shake our heads and we wonder, why can't you see this? Why don't you understand? And yet you find that people don't? We are living in the end time. The day of the Lord and the day of Jesus Christ's return are fast approaching, and you and I need to be ready. And so one of the things that's going to help us to be ready is being able to come together and to worship God collectively and to be able to stir up to love and to serve one another up in encouragement. Now back in Isaiah 58, Isaiah 58, verse 13.

If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, call the Sabbath a delight.

The holy day of the Lord, honorable, shall honor Him. Not doing your own ways or finding your own pleasure or speaking your own words. Now people look at that, especially young people sometimes, and there's no pleasure on the Sabbath day. The Bible says, you can't do anything pleasurable on this day. That's not exactly what the Hebrew word means. It means doing your own business. The Jewish translation translates as, your own business, the new English translation says, applying your own trade. So what it's saying here is that you and I, again, should not be doing our own trade or business. You might say, I don't have a job. I don't have anything that I do during the week. But whatever it is that you do during the week, you don't do it on the Sabbath. You change focus on that day. It's not referring to personal enjoyment. You are to enjoy this day. But it is not a day of violent physical activity. It's not a day of any kind of work. It's not a day that you decide to go outside and you and your son play an hour and a half of basketball. That's not the purpose of the day. The emphasis should be positive, not negative. How many times do our children grow up, maybe detesting the Sabbath? Because their parents made them sit in the chair, study your Bible. We're going to have a Bible study that goes on and on and on. After a while, children become bored. Small children, especially. It's not a day that they just sit around watching cartoons. The Sabbath should be a different day. Children are small. Nothing wrong with them playing with their toys. What about having a special toy? Maybe two or three toys that they can only play with on the Sabbath. So that Friday night comes, yes, you can play with it now. They get to play with that toy. The Sabbath is over. You can't play with it until next Sabbath. What it does is it makes them look forward to the Sabbath. Have a special meal on the Sabbath. Special dessert on the Sabbath. Friday night used to be the only night that we could get together, so we always tried to have a special meal, maybe a candlelight dinner, something that our family would enjoy. Occasionally, a special dessert that they would be able to eat. And then we would have a Bible study, but you make it age appropriate, time appropriate for everyone who would be involved with it.

The Sabbath is not the time to get out and play with every kid in the neighborhood. It's the time to take a 20-mile bike ride, and all of these types of things. For our children, as well as for us, the Sabbath is a different day. But that doesn't mean that it has to be a boring day. It can be enjoyable if it's done in the right way. Now, the last part of verse 13 says, not speaking your own words.

So what kind of words should you speak? The only words I can speak are my words, but that's not what it's saying here. It's talking about your conversation should be uplifting, inspiring, encouraging. What is a spiritual conversation?

And how can you tell if your conversation is being spiritual or not on the Sabbath day? A spiritual conversation would have some elements of spirituality mixed in with it, would it not?

Why is it that we can listen to a sermon, or we could have just gotten a good news magazine, or a world news and prophecy? We never discuss it. We never talk about it. We've read an article. We've been looking at world news and reading those types of things, and we just simply don't discuss it. Last night, we had dinner with one of the members in the church, and we were discussing what was going on in Europe, in Greece. Here's a country about to go bankrupt. What are they going to do? Well, they're wanting Germany to bail them out. Portugal and Spain are right behind them, followed by Ireland and the UK, and then many others. They're all pegged to the euro, and they're not going to devalue that in order to devalue currency so that Greece can get out of its problem. We need to be talking about what's going on around us, where we encourage one another. We talk about God's way. In Acts 18, Acts 18, verse 25, we have here an example of Apollos and Aquiline Priscilla and the Sabbath day. Verse 25, this is, He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, and when Aquiline Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of the Lord more accurately. So they talked about God's way of life, His plan, His purpose. It's not wrong for us, I'm not talking about trying to preach or straighten somebody out. It's not wrong for us to talk about God's way of life when we talk to one another. We should be talking about the Bible, the good news, announcements, sermons. Is it wrong to talk about things like your job, talk about the family, talk about babies, talk about what you did during the week? Not if you're talking about them from a perspective of how that other person is doing. All we do is say, well, let me tell you what I did this week. I mopped the floor ten times, I washed clothes five times, I did this six times, and we're just talking about things and there's no purpose to it. That might not be the best thing to do. But if we talk about what we're doing and how we're trying to take care of our children, look after our children, our families, our health, and we begin to talk about things that might improve our health about one another. The Bible says, those of you who are sick, go to others, ask them to pray for you. Maybe we're sick, or we've been sick. We ask people, I'm still struggling with my gallbladder, I'm still having this stomach problem, you pray for me. You talk about it. We talk about those things. We talk about how to care for our children, our families. You might be a mother, and you might have a baby, and you're having trouble breastfeeding. That doesn't apply to most of us. I know I'm here. But what if you start talking about things that you can do to help with that? Proper techniques of gardening and how to grow better food. What is better food? We can talk about all kinds of things that would be truly uplifting and inspiring. Think about from the point of view that when we're talking about things, we're trying to inspire and to uplift and to encourage the other person. Now let's notice Christ's example back in Mark 2. Mark 2, beginning in verse 23.

Mark 2, verse 23. Now it happened that he went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. So you get asked the question, is it wrong to walk through a grain field on the Sabbath? And the answer is, no, it's not. And as they went, his disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. And when the Pharisees said to him, Look, what do they do, what is not lawful, on the Sabbath? So they were accusing him of breaking and his disciples the Sabbath. But he said to them, Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry? And those that were with him, how he went into the house of God in the days of Abathar, the high priest, ate of the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave to those who were with him. Then he goes on to say that the Sabbath was made for man. So we find that Jesus Christ did not stay indoors. So the question, is it wrong to get out of your house? Is answered by the Scripture? No, it's not. He and his disciples were out for a walk or a stroll. If you like you walking through an apple or an archer, and you're strolling along, you see a nice, big, red, juicy apple. You think, boy, that looks nice. You reach over and grab it. You're out in your backyard, and you're viewing your garden, and you see a plump tomato. It's just calling your name out. You reach down, and you pick it, and you rub the dirt off, and you go ahead and eat it. That's what his disciples were doing. They were being accused of harvesting and breaking the Sabbath. Well, whose law were they breaking? Not God's. Their own man-made tradition.

Now, over here in Mark 1, verse 21, Mark 1, 21, Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath, He entered the synagogue, and He taught. Mark 1, verse 21. And they were astonished at His teachings, for He taught them as one, having authority, not as the scribes. Now, you'll notice here, there was... well, let me go ahead and read it. I was going to skip over this, but I'll go ahead and read. It says, Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, saying, Let us alone what have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Did you not come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. And Jesus Christ rebuked him, told him to be quiet and come out. Now, verse 29, now, as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Now, we find a couple of things here on the Sabbath. He taught them. He cast a demon out. He healed this man. And then he went to a private home and had a meal.

And he also healed Simon's wife here. And so you'll find that he goes to a private home. Let's notice back in chapter 3 here while we're still in Mark. Might as well cover all of these while we're here. In verse 1, he entered into the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. It would be interesting for you to just read the four Gospels, get a concordance, look up the word Sabbath, and see every place where the Sabbath is mentioned. Now, Christ kept it from what the Pharisees and Sadducees' attitude was towards him. And see the contrast between the two. So they watched him closely. So they kept an eye on him. What's he going to do here? Whether he would heal on the Sabbath. Why? Why were they interested in this? So they could praise God, give God glory, thank Him. Know that they might accuse Him. They wanted to find something that they could charge Him with. He said to the man who had the withered hand, step forward. He said to him, or to them, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil? To save life or to kill. But they kept their silence. And when he looked around at them in anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, he said to the man, stretch out your hand. And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. And then the Pharisees went out and immediately thanked God and praised Him for this. Is that what it says? No, it says, they went out and plotted with the Herodians against Him how they might destroy Him. They wanted to kill Him. They couldn't stand it that He had healed somebody on the Sabbath day, because they thought He had violated the laws of the Sabbath, which was their own man-made tradition. Now, Luke 13, Luke chapter 13, beginning in verse 1, Luke chapter 13, excuse me, verse 10.

Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. I want you to notice how often he taught on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity 18 years, was bent over, and could no way raise herself up. And when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.

And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight and glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, and he said to the crowd, There are six days in which men ought to work, therefore come and be healed on them, not on the Sabbath day. And the Lord then answered him and said, Hippocrit, does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox and his donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it?

And so, not this woman being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan is bound, think of it, 18 years be loosed from the bond on the Sabbath. And when he had said these things, all the adversaries were put to shame, and the multitudes rejoiced for the glorious things that were done by him. See, they didn't have anything to say after that. So it's not wrong on the Sabbath to feed your animals, to water them. What if you have a dog and a cat?

Can you feed your dog and cat on the Sabbath? Well, sure you can. Not wrong to do something of that nature. You've got a few chickens in your backyard, throw some corn out for them. Christ certainly showed that to do good is not wrong. In chapter 14, we find Jesus Christ eating in the home of a Pharisee. Now it happened as he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched him closely.

So again, they're always watching him. And behold, there was a certain man before him, had dropsy. And Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers in the Pharisee, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, that they kept quiet? He took him and healed him. Then he said, Which one of you having a donkey or an ox that falls into a pit? Well, you're not immediately pulling him out on the Sabbath day. So here's the ox in the ditch, where you extend help to someone who's in trouble.

And you'll notice in verse 7, So he told a parable to those who were invited, in other words, those who were invited to the dinner, when he noted how they chose the best places, saying to them. I want you to notice there was quite a crowd there at this time, in this Pharisee's house. So they believed it was okay to gather together in somebody's home and eat.

And Christ didn't rebuke them for that. He used the opportunity to continue to teach them. Now in John 5, Now the reason I read that, it's not wrong for us to get together on the Sabbath and eat together. People wonder, is it okay to go out to a restaurant on the Sabbath? And the Church has always said that it's okay to occasionally, or to go out to a restaurant on the Sabbath and to eat.

And nothing wrong with that. You'll find that there are any number of scriptures in the Bible dealing with the Sabbath. And there's nothing that says or deals directly with, is it wrong or not wrong to go out and eat in a restaurant? Quite frankly, back at this time, they just didn't have a lot of restaurants. And so, you know, it's a different world, different society.

You have to apply God's law today. But they obviously did get together in people's homes to eat. In John 5 here, let's notice the example of Christ. There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. You might remember there was a great multitude of sick people, verse 3, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool, stirred up the water, and then whoever stepped in first in the stirring of the water was made well.

Now, there was a man who had had an infirmity for 38 years. He asked him, do you want to be made well? And he said, well, I don't have anybody to stick me in the water. Jesus told him to rise up, take up your bed, and walk. Immediately, the man was made well. He took up his bed and walked. That day was the Sabbath. So Christ healed him on the Sabbath day. Well, of course, they got upset over this, just like they got upset over a number of things.

So again, we find Jesus Christ outside of his house or home, out walking by a pool of water on the Sabbath day. He engages somebody in a conversation. So it's not wrong for us, again, to do those type of things. In verse 13, the Jews called him, the man who had been healed, brought him before them. They were interrogating him. And the one who was healed, verse 13, did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn a multitude being in that place.

And afterwards, Jesus found them in the temple and said to him, See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest the worst come upon you. The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus. And then they said, Well, he couldn't have done this because he's a sinner. He healed you on the Sabbath day. And so they were going by their own rules, their own traditions, their own regulations. So, brethren, there are a lot more scriptures that we could read. But what I want you to do, and I would like to suggest to all of us, is take your concordance, go back and read, especially in the Gospels, if you've not done that.

Every place where the Sabbath is mentioned. Study it and see how Jesus Christ kept the Sabbath. That's His example. What did He say? How did He instruct them? Those are His words. And find out Christ, who is the Lord of the Sabbath, the one who made the Sabbath, when He came to the earth, lived on the earth as God in the flesh, how did He keep the Sabbath?

You don't find Him doing away with the Sabbath. He didn't destroy the Sabbath. He kept the Sabbath. How did He keep it? And there is the example for us. And let's encourage one another. Again, realize that God gives us an opportunity on the Sabbath to collectively, as His body, to assemble before Him. And let's not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. And especially as we see the end time approaching, brethren. Let's make sure that we remember the Sabbath day and that we keep it holy.