R E M E M B E R . . . t h e . . . S A B B A T H

God delivered the ten commandments to man through Moses on Mount Sinai.

Let's read the fourth commandment:
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. {9} Six days you shall labor and do all your work, {10} 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. {11} For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." (Exodus 20:8-11.)

God gives us some advice about what is important to remember. The word FORGET occurs 60 times in the Bible and the word REMEMBER occurs 164 times in the Bible.

Why does man want to forget the Sabbath? Let's explore this question.

"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. {3} 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 2:2-3.)

On the seventh day God ended His work, and He blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. The Sabbath was so important to God that He established a special Sabbath covenant separate from the ten commandments.

"Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and

you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you. {14} 'You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. {15} 'Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. {16} 'Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. {17} 'It is a sign 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 was refreshed.' " (Exodus 31:13-17.)

Did you notice that the Sabbath was a special sign between God and His people? This covenant was a perpetual covenant, which means it is forever.

"If thou turn away 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: {14} 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.)

Notice that there are blessings if we delight in the Sabbath.

Who Is Lord of the Sabbath? Let's notice who is Lord of the Sabbath. "And He (Jesus) said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. "Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath." (Mark 2:27-28.)

Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. That would make the Sabbath the true Lord's Day.

In the United States of America, we celebrate Memorial Day each year. Why is it celebrated each year? So, that we will not forget to honor the soldiers who died in battle to maintain the freedoms that we possess in the United States.

Some other days that we have established as memorials are: July 4th. and Thanksgiving Day. These are good customs.

Did Jesus have any special customs?
"So He (Jesus) came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read." (Luke 4:16.)
Did the Apostle Paul have any special customs? "Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures." (Acts 17:2.)
"And Paul reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks." (Acts 18:4.)

We all realize that years ago the Sabbath was kept by the ancient Israelites and the Jews. What about the future? There are prophecies that says that the Sabbath will be kept in the millennium after Jesus returns as King of kings and Lord of Lords and establishes the Kingdom of God on earth.

"And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD." (Isaiah 66:23.)

"And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my Sabbaths." (Ezekiel44:24.)

Here's a question for you, if the Sabbath was kept in ancient Israel, and will be kept in the future, why shouldn't it be kept today?

Hebrews 13:8 says: "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."

Since Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, then why wouldn't the Sabbath be for yesterday, today and forever?

Let's look at a New Testament scripture about the Sabbath for today:
"There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." (Hebrews 4:9 KJV.)
The word appearing as "rest" in Hebrews 4:9 is not translated properly. In the original Greek it is "Sabbatismos," which means: "A KEEPING OF THE SABBATH."

The New International Version translates this verse as: "There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God." The American Standard Version, Weymouth New Testament, Rotherham Emphasized Bible also translates the word "rest" as "Sabbath-rest." The Bible in Basic English translates this verse as: "So that there is still a Sabbath-keeping for the people of God."

Those not keeping the Sabbath will not be bearing God's Sabbath "sign" which identifies His people. The only way we can keep the Sabbath as Holy time is by doing what God commands on that day - by RESTING from our physical labors!

In Conclusion: Why does man want to forget the seventh day (Saturday) Sabbath?

I am going to give you two reasons:

Reason #1: The Carnal Mind is at Enmity Against God

"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." (Romans 8:7.)

Man's mind is naturally hostile toward God's commandments, especially the fourth commandment.

The Sabbath commandment is the TEST commandment. God is testing us and wants to know if we are willing to obey him in the works of our hands and in our beliefs in our mind regarding his law.

"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." (James 4:4.)

Most people would rather be friends of the world than friends of God. It is our decision whether we want to pass the test and show God that we want to obey Him in keeping His commandments, especially the Sabbath commandment. The Sabbath commandment is voluntary and is an outward sign of obeying God. 

"History reveals that it was because of political and social pressures that the Sabbath was gradually abandoned for Sunday- long after the time of the Apostles. Severe anti-Jewish attitudes developed in the Roman world during the first and second centuries. As acts of repression, the Romans outlawed circumcision, sacrificing, Sabbathkeeping and other Jewish practices. Consequently, Christians, particularly at Rome, found it expedient to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the Jews, to demonstrate to the Romans that they were not Jewish. One way they did this was to work on the Sabbath. Sunday, which was already used by many Romans as a holiday, was a convenient substitute."   For a detailed account of this substitution, see the book From Sabbath to Sunday by Samuele Bacchiocchi (Gregorian Pontifical University Press, 1974).

Web address:    www.biblicalperspectives.com

When Constantine officially recognized Christianity in the fourth century, he put the power of the empire behind Sunday observance. In the centuries that followed, the first day of the week became so firmly entrenched as the "Christian Sabbath" that even Protestant reformers could not dislodge it, though they claimed their authority from the Bible and Bible only.

Sunday observance was adopted for the sake of political expedience and is based solely on church tradition. The seventh-day Sabbath, on the other hand, is rooted firmly in the authority of God's Word!

Which is your source of authority? "

Will you Remember the Sabbath Day to Keep it Holy?