25 January 2021 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, Is it appropriate to take communion/eucharist when visiting a church of a different denomination? As a musician I have been blessed to perform for various, God-fearing congregations of other denominations, but I am aware that many hold different beliefs as to what the communion emblems mean, and I […] Source: https://atoday.org/76038-2/
If Jesus Is Our Rest, Do We Still Need a Weekly Sabbath?
I was listening to a preacher on the radio talking about the Sabbath. He explained that the weekly Sabbath pointed us to the rest we have in Christ, so we no longer need the weekly Sabbath because we now have Jesus. He sounded sincere, and I really appreciated Him pointing people to Jesus and resting their faith in Him, since the grace of Jesus is the only way to be saved.
Photo by William Earnhardt
As a matter of fact the Sabbath is a sign that we are resting our faith in Jesus’ grace and not our works. God explicitly set aside that day as a sign of His covenant with His people – a sign that He sanctifies His people, in contrast to attempted sanctification by works. That’s why I find it ironic when people accuse me of trying to get to heaven by my own works by keeping the Sabbath.
The radio preacher was correct that the Sabbath pointed us to the rest we have in Christ. However, he apparently did not realize that the Sabbath is also a sign of God’s New Covenant in which He promises to write His law within our hearts:
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Jeremiah 31:33
Do you see that the New Covenant is the Lord’s promise to sanctify us? A promise to write His law in our hearts, so we would serve Him from the heart? And that’s exactly the meaning of sanctification of which the Sabbath is a sign. Sanctification means to make holy, and God wants to make us holy by writing His law in our hearts.
Some other things we need to consider:
Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished.
And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. Genesis 2:1-3 NKJV
While the feast days and ceremonial Sabbaths, such as the Passover, were not instituted until sin came into the world, we have the weekly Sabbath made holy (sanctified) before there was sin and the need of a Savior. Paul says in Colossians 2:16-17 that the ceremonial feast Sabbaths were done away with at the cross. 2. Some people say we should still keep the feast days. They don’t seem to realize that we are literally living in what the feast days symbolized! We no longer need a ceremonial Passover because Jesus dying on the cross was the real Passover to which all the other Passovers pointed. We no longer keep the ceremonial Day of Atonement because, beginning in 1844 we are living in the real Day of Atonement. So those feast days that point us to the cross are done away with, but the Bible nowhere indicates that the weekly Sabbath was a “shadow of things to come.” The weekly Sabbath was there before our need of the cross, and the Bible tells us that it will still be there after the cross.
While Paul tells us the ceremonial Sabbaths were done away at the cross, He continued observing the weekly Sabbath.
And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks. Acts 18:4 NKJV
The weekly Sabbath was not a Jewish custom. He met with the Greeks also.
Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, Acts 17:2 NKJV
I have heard people argue that the only reason Paul was at the synagogue on Sabbath was because that’s the only day he could meet the Jews there to talk about Jesus. However, we just saw in Acts 18:4 that in the New Testament, Greeks were worshiping on Sabbath as well, and Paul was persuading them all about Jesus as they continued keeping the seventh-day Sabbath. In Acts 17:2 we see Sabbath keeping was still Paul’s own custom even after accepting Jesus.
The Sabbath was not just made for the Jews. The gentiles were keeping the Sabbath as well. Jesus Himself said that the Sabbath was made for mankind, which included Jews and Gentiles alike.
The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Mark 2:27 NKJV
Nowhere does Jesus or anyone else in the Bible say the weekly Sabbath was made for Jews. Jesus says it was made for mankind. Not only was the Sabbath made for everyone, it will be kept by everyone even in the new earth.
And it shall come to pass That from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the Lord. Isaiah 66:23 NKJV
The weekly Sabbath was instituted before sin and remains after the cross. The Sabbath was given to all “flesh” and “mankind.” “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.”-Hebrews 4:11.
Will you enter into the Sabbath rest that remains since the creation of the world? Will you keep God’s holy day as an outward sign of your inward faith in Christ as both your Creator and Redeemer? Let us remember that only sanctified people can really keep a sanctified day. So let us enter into that rest by letting Jesus be Lord in our lives.
Amen!
(1)
(1)The post If Jesus Is Our Rest, Do We Still Need a Weekly Sabbath? appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/if-jesus-is-our-rest-do-we-still-need-a-weekly-sabbath/
The Spirit Can Be Grieved
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30.
I would that all my brethren and sisters would remember that it is a serious thing to grieve the Holy Spirit; and it is grieved when the human agent seeks to work himself, and refuses to enter the service of the Lord because the cross is too heavy or the self-denial too great. The Holy Spirit seeks to abide in each soul. If it is welcomed as an honored guest, those who receive it will be made complete in Christ; the good work begun will be finished; and holy thoughts, heavenly affections, and Christlike actions will take the place of impure thoughts, perverse sentiments, and rebellious acts.
The Holy Spirit is a divine teacher. If we will heed its lessons, we shall become wise unto salvation. But we need to guard well our hearts; for too often we forget the heavenly instruction we have received, and seek to act out the natural inclinations of our unconsecrated minds. Each one must fight his own battle against self. Heed the teachings of the Holy Spirit. If this is done, they will be repeated again and again until the impressions are as it were lead on the rock forever.
God has bought us, and He claims a throne in each heart. Our minds and bodies must be subordinated to Him; and the natural habits and appetites must be made subservient to the higher wants of the soul. But we can place no dependence upon ourselves in this work. We cannot with safety follow our own guidance. The Holy Spirit must renew and sanctify us. And in God’s service there must be no halfway work. Those who profess to serve God and yet indulge their natural impulses will mislead other souls. Said Christ, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37). “This do, and thou shalt live” (Luke 10:28).—Manuscript Releases 18:47, 48.
Ye Shall Receive Power p. 33
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Prayer Requests
—-I have a friend that’s having suicidal thoughts due to depression and other things. Please pray! Kathy
—- Please pray for Robert and Carol. Robert has been sick since Thanksgiving and Carol is having issues also. Wonderful brother and sister in Christ. Also remember Hannah as she can’t attend church without a ride. Ernest
—-Please send up prayers that HR will be generous in granting time off to care for my Dad. He is recovering from surgery and needs medical assistance. I’ve already used up my FMLA which ended last week. Vicki
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Dear Friends,
Some years ago, I saw a little film clip of a dog and his master. That border collie was very well trained and a joy to watch. His owner put him through a series of complicated moves that were just amazing. Since the collie was totally focused on his master and allowed nothing to distract him, he knew just what to do and when to do it.
Just as that dog kept his eyes on his master and took his direction from him, so we are to keep our eyes on our Loving Saviour. “Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God.” Ps 123:1,2 “Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.” Micah 7:7
Think of it! The One Who loved us so much that He died the cruelest of deaths to redeem us from the power of the enemy is our Creator, our Helper, our Strength, and wants to be our constant Companion. Our dearest thoughts should be of Him.”I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.” Ps 77:11, 12 Our conversation should be about His blessings. As Paul says, “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. …so stand fast in the Lord. Phil 3:20-4:1 Our leisure time should be spent reading His Holy Word for through His Word we are sanctified. (John 17:17) Our greatest pleasure should be in doing those things which please Him. “Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.” 1 John 3:21, 22
May we ever look to our Dear Saviour for the direction we need in every situation. May we stay ever close to Him “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” Heb 12:2 “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” 1 Thes 5:23, 24
Rose
Source: https://rosesdevotional.org/the-spirit-can-be-grieved.html
Wednesday: Entering into His Rest
Read Hebrews 3:11 and Hebrews 4:1, Hebrews 4:3, Hebrews 4:5, Hebrews 4:10. How does God characterize the rest He invites us to enter?
Both the Sabbath commandment in Exodus 20:8-11 and Moses’ restatement of it in Deuteronomy 5:12-15 invite us to remember what God has done for us. As we have seen, what God wrote on tablets of stone point us to the finishing of His work of Creation (Exodus 31:18; Exodus 34:28). In Deuteronomy Israel is commanded to keep the Sabbath in view of God’s finished work of deliverance, from Egyptian bondage.
Image © Bible Adventure Collection at Goodsalt.com
The Exodus from Egypt pointed forward to the ultimate work of deliverance from sin that Christ would accomplish on the cross when He said, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). So the Sabbath is doubly blessed and, in fact, is especially meaningful for Christians.
Read Hebrews 4:9-11, Hebrews 4:16. What are we called to do?
The Sabbath rest celebrates the fact that God ended, or finished, His work of Creation (Genesis 2:1-3, Exodus 20:8-11) or redemption (Deuteronomy 5:12-15). Similarly, Jesus’ enthronement in the heavenly temple celebrates that He finished offering a perfect sacrifice for our salvation (Hebrews 10:12-14).
Notice, God rests only when He has secured our well-being. At Creation, God rested when He had finished the creation of the world. Later on, God rested in the temple only after the conquest of the land He had promised Abraham was completed through the victories of David, and Israel “lived in safety” (1 Kings 4:21-25, ESV; compare with Exodus 15:18-21, Deuteronomy 11:24, 2 Samuel 8:1-14). God had a house built for Himself only after Israel and the king had houses for themselves.
| How can we enter into His rest even now? That is, how can we, by faith, rest in the assurance of the salvation that we have in Christ, and not in ourselves? |
Amen!(2)
(2)The post Wednesday: Entering into His Rest appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/wednesday-entering-into-his-rest/
Assessing Conrad Vine’s Vaccination Arguments
by David Hamstra There’s a speech going around Seventh-day Adventist circles right now by Adventist Frontier Missions head Conrad Vine, that alleges that the denomination’s 2015 position statement on immunization should be retracted because it was released by a small circle of church bureaucrats that exceeded the mandate given to them by ordinary church members. […] Source: https://atoday.org/assessing-conrad-vines-vaccination-arguments/
