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Ric_b
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Username: Ric_b

Post Number: 432
Registered: 7-2004


Posted on Monday, February 20, 2006 - 10:49 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I just came across an interesting sermon from Ray Stedman concerning the sabbath. http://www.ldolphin.org/sabbathrest.html

I'll post this as a teaser.


quote:

As a fourth point we must therefore recognize that the weekly sabbath, i.e., Saturday, is not the real sabbath. It never was, and it is not now. It is a picture or a reminder of the real sabbath. The true sabbath is a rest; the Jewish sabbath is a shadow, a picture of that rest. All the Old Testament shadows pointed to Christ. They were predictions, foreviews, of the coming of the One who would fulfill all these remarkable things. Every lamb that was brought as an offering was a shadow of the work of Christ. Every burnt offering, every bit of incense that was offered, was a picture of the fragrance of Jesus Christ. The tabernacle was a shadow of him. The high priest, in his garments and his office, was a shadow of Christ as our High Priest. Read the book of Hebrews and you will see how beautifully all this is brought out. These Old Testament shadows were looking forward to the coming of the One who would fulfill these and thus end them. When the work of Jesus Christ was finished the shadows were no longer needed.


Colleentinker
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Posted on Monday, February 20, 2006 - 11:33 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Wonderful quote, Rick! Thank you!

Colleen
Jorgfe
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Posted on Monday, February 20, 2006 - 12:38 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ric - that is great! I have been looking for something like this. Thank you.

Gilbert Jorgensen
Jwd
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Posted on Monday, February 20, 2006 - 2:13 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Very good quote, Rick. Thanks.

JWD
Dennis
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Posted on Monday, February 20, 2006 - 2:33 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Rick, that is a great document on the Sabbath topic. Similarly, here is another one by Dr. Woodrow Kroll, Executive Director-Speaker of the BACK TO THE BIBLE International Radio Ministries:

"Often Christians who worship on Sunday are asked, "Why don't you observe the Sabbath as commanded in the Ten Commandments?" The answer is simple. The Sabbath began before the commandments and outlived them. Let me explain.

It was only when God finished the work of creating the heavens and earth that He rested. The Sabbath, the rest of God, implies perfect satisfaction in what He had accomplished ("it was very good"). The seventh day was fixed by God to be at a time of rest and joy for Himself and all creation. Since no more work had to be done, God rested. It was not because He was weary, but because He was finished.

God blessed the Sabbath and sanctified it, setting it apart from the days of His labors. What's more, God had made man on the sixth day, so that the first day that dawned upon Adam was the the Sabbath of God. Man immediately entered into the enjoyment of the Creator's rest. When God finishes His work, we benefit by entering into rest with Him.

But that rest was quickly destroyed by man's sin. The Sabbath was destroyed. The tempter came, man rebelled against God and rest was broken. In the ages that follow man appears to have forgotten that the Sabbath was "made for man" not man for the Sabbath. It took Jesus to straighten out man's thinking (Mark 2:27-28). He is Lord of the Sabbath, and still some thinking appears to be confused about what the Sabbath means.

The Law entered when man sinned. The Law was a moral code, a schoolteacher to bring men and women back to God. The Law was designed to point men to Christ, God the Son. Therefore, the Ten Commandments specifically ordained, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy" (Ex. 20:8). As long as man lived apart from God, he lived under the Law. But if we remember the law of the Sabbath without remembering the purpose of the Sabbath, we only remember the code and not the Christ.

Of all the Ten Commandments, the only not repeated in the New Testament, the only one not germane to living under grace instead of law, was the fourth commandment--remember the Sabbath day, keep it holy, do no work, rest the seventh day. There's good reason for this omission. When God finished the work of creation He rested. When God finished the work of redemption again He rested (John 19:30). Jesus finished the work (John 17:4). He put away sin; the work of redemption was complete, and it was very good. The rest that existed from Creation to the Fall was now restored. Jesus said, "Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28).

As Adam entered into God's rest after creation, we enter into His rest after redemption. Between these was the Law and labor. Keeping the Law never brought salvation, but it never brought rest either. Jesus is our Sabbath. The Christian worships the Lord on the first day of the week, the day Jesus rose from the dead, because that resurrection day was the day mankind again could rest in the joy of the Lord. The Sabbath pre-existed the Law and He lives again today in hearts unfettered by the Law."

Dennis Fischer
Flyinglady
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Posted on Monday, February 20, 2006 - 6:20 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thank You Ric and Dennis for the sermons on the Sabbath and what it means. I have a better understanding of the Sabbath rest God has for us. I need to read these again and again.
Diana
Jorgfe
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Posted on Monday, February 20, 2006 - 7:11 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ric -- that is such a good article! I especially like the statement:

"As a fourth point we must therefore recognize that the weekly sabbath, i.e., Saturday, is not the real sabbath. It never was, and it is not now. It is a picture or a reminder of the real sabbath. The true sabbath is a rest; the Jewish sabbath is a shadow, a picture of that rest."


I have been listening to Hebrews 4 over and over trying to completely understand what is being said.

"Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,

"So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'

"And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "And on the seventh day God rested from all his work.

"And again in the passage above he says,
"They shall never enter my rest."

It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before:

"Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience." Hebrews 4:3-11


It is obvious from this text that the "Sabbath Rest" being referred to here is of greater importance today, than the Sabbath of the creation week. The Israelites already kept the 7th-day sabbath, and yet God said, "They shall never enter my rest."

The article you have provided gives clarity to this subject in a way that I have not seen before. I suspect that Dale Ratzlaff has probably gone into this in even greater detail in his book, "Sabbath in Christ". Whatever Bacchiocchi and others come up with to try and lend support to their position, they cannot deny the fact that Hebrews 4 has a very significant message for today -- one that is never preached from the Seventh-day Adventist pulpit.

Gilbert Jorgensen
Honestwitness
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Post Number: 37
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Posted on Monday, February 20, 2006 - 7:30 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Stedman wrote: "He will find rest, he will fulfill the sabbath for that is what the sabbath is. It is God's divine provision for us in the only judgment that is ever worthwhile, the judgment before the assembled hosts of heaven, when every life is reviewed as to whether it was worth the living, whether it hit the target or not, the secret of a success that will merit the words of Jesus, 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant,' is to learn the rest of God. Anyone who learns that (and to the degree that you learn it) is keeping the sabbath as God intended the sabbath to be kept."

Beautiful concept! Thank you, Ric_b for sharing this link.
Jorgfe
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Post Number: 167
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Posted on Monday, February 20, 2006 - 8:12 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ric - your link lead me to a goldmine at http://www.blbi.org/
See also:
http://www.blbi.org/course/catalog.cfm
http://www.blbi.org/site/faq.cfm
http://cf.blueletterbible.org/commentaries/
http://cf.blueletterbible.org/commentaries/comm_author.cfm?AuthorID=9 (Ray Stedman)

This appears to be a really good link for in-depth Bible commentaries and classes!

Gilbert Jorgensen
Lori
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Posted on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - 5:41 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Dennis, I enjoyed your post regarding the Sabbath rest!! Excellent, perspiciously stated!!

Thanks!
Bobalou
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Username: Bobalou

Post Number: 36
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Posted on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - 6:22 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ric, I just pasted the clip from your post in the Sabbath thread on Christianity.com. That was so enlightening. Thanks

P. S. I finally broke down and started posting on CARM. Very interesting web site. Good to see some of you straying over there. OTB
Raven
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Post Number: 379
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Posted on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - 6:51 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Nice to know who you are, OTB! I've enjoyed reading your CARM posts.
Brian4
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Username: Brian4

Post Number: 12
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Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2006 - 9:21 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Genesis 2
1Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

2And 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.

3And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

READ the text! THEN READ IT AGAIN! Do not add to or take away from or try to explain it away! GOD BLESSED THE SEVENTH DAY AND SANTIFIED IT! No amount of reasoning (wrestling) can change the meaning. Praise God His word is unchangeable as is the Sabbath as He created it! We rest in the finished work of salvation performed by Christ's perfect sacrifice. His death burial and resurrection are the hope of all who believe. This plan was laid before the foundation of the world. The finished work of Creation God ordained with the Day for us to enter into rest as we do so we honor His request and acknowledge He is the One true God. That Day of rest was made for man. I rest every day in the finished work of Christ on the behalf of all sinners for the remission of sin. I rest on the Sabbath Day as I am convinced the Bible is true and the Sabbath Day was made for man. God blessed it, and sanctified it. God was not tired from His work of creation, however, He knew we would be very tired from our weekly work and gave us the gift of a weekly day of Sabbath rest, not to be confused with resting in the finished work of Salvation. I will not post on this topic in the future. May the Holy Spirit teach us to read the scriptures with an open heart for all it's worth. The Bible is our only hope for truth; do not let anyone change the meaning of the text. Read it in context and do not read to prove your position.

Titus 3:9
But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
Chris
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Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2006 - 12:30 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I've read it, Brian, and I've read it again (a few more times than that actually). I still don't see where humans rested or were told to rest or even why they would need to rest, at least not in this text. I don't even see any special name given to the day in this text or anywhere else in Genesis. In fact, I don't see anyone anyhwere in Genesis ever keeping Sabbath or being instructed to. The word never even appears in Genesis.

Keep in mind that Moses wrote this, to the children of Israel, after Sinai, while they were in the wilderness. Moses wrote to explain their history and he very frequently uses anachronism as a highly effective literary device. That's what you're seeing in Gen. 2:3. The Lord blessed and hallowed the day for the childeren of Israel in the Sinai wilderness. God did this as a way of pointing back to the rest that was lost when sin entered the world and to point forward to the rest that would be restored in Christ.

Brian, with all gentleness and respect, I truly believe with all my heart that you are reading several things into this text that just aren't there. The text you closed with, Titus 3:9 is well worth keeping in mind here. If you are convinced in your own mind that you should keep a certain day as more special than another, then you should do so. Just don't engage in judgment, foolish questions, contentions, and strivings with those who believe everyday is alike for New Covenant Christians. We find our true rest, our Sabbath-like-rest, TODAY (everyday) in Christ Jesus.

Chris
Jorgfe
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Post Number: 181
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Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2006 - 2:20 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I have wondered about five things:

1. Why does the seventh "day" of Genesis 2 not have an evening and a morning like the first six days are described as having?
2. What did God do on the eighth "day"?
3. Why is the entire narative of Genesis 2:1-3 about what God did, but it never mentions Adam or Eve? The next verse immediately returns to the beginning of the creation story. The previous instruction to Adam and Eve specifically commands them to "be fruitful and multiply" but, unlike the Mormon Church, I don't see an equal emphasis being given to this within Seventh-day Adventist doctrine or practice.
4. What did Adam and Eve do differently on the eighth day from the prior days?
5. Why is it that the 4th commandment given to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 5:15 NIV uses the reason
"Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day."

while in Exodus 20:11 NIV the reason is:
"For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the 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."

Since Deuteronomy supersedes Exodus, should we be using the later justification, rather than the former?

At this point in time I don't have a definitive opinion -- just food for thought. :-)

Gilbert Jorgensen
Colleentinker
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Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2006 - 11:04 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

That Genesis seventh day was blessed because God CEASED from work that day. It was finished. Adam and Eve were not commnaded to rest. No creation work was resumed on any "eighth day". Adam and Eve, through no personal qualification, were ushered into God's finished work on that seventh day just because they WEREóand they were the crowning part of God's creation. They were created for God's rest which began on that seventh day.

That rest didn't end after sundown. The lack of an evening and a morning on that day reinforces this understanding. God's "ceasing" was continuous. Adam and Eve were the recipients of that finished work by the grace of their Creator. That rest is what Exodus 20:8-11 points back to.

The fourth commandment also remembers God's bringing Israel out of slavery and His promise of rest. He was using the perfect rest of His finished work at creation to illustrate to Israel what His intent was for them. He planned all along to bring them to Canaan, the place of their restówhich was also a symbol of the perfect rest He would again give them when Jesus died and rose again.

When you begin to see how the seventh day and the Sabbath are intertwined with Christ's "It is finished" at the crossóeternal rest for God's people because of God's complete, finished workóit's breath-taking. It's a so much richer shadow that we ever imagined it to be when we thought the day itself was the end-all-be-all.

Colleen

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