Praising God for glimpses of His grace in my life...

**Southern Presbyterian** · #1 (**permalink**) 07-19-2009, 03:16 PM

As a parent, my most consistent prayer has been that God would supply me the grace and wisdom to be the best steward possible of the two blessings that He bestowed upon my wife and I. I'm speaking of my children, of coarse.

Today I read a Note that my son posted on Facebook about the Sabbath. By this the Lord has shown me what He can accomplish despite the pitiful tools He chooses to work with (that being myself).

I'm hoping that this will be an encouragement to all the parents on the PB. Particularly if you are/were plagued by worry and doubt over your parenting skills and the awesome responsibility that the Lord places upon us through the gift of children. He will accomplish His purposes in all things. All praise to Him for His tender mercies!

Below is the Note in question:

Quote:

The Christian Sabbath

A recent discussion on facebook has led me into a study on the Sabbath day, or Lord's day as we so commonly call it today. When was it first specifically commanded? When did it change to Sunday? And the most important question, what are Sabbath appropriate activities? I intend to answer these three questions in this note, and would very much like for this to become an open forum of sorts where everyone invited can discuss this matter.

The first question is an easy one. We find the Sabbath commanded in Exodus 20:8-11: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy."

The seventh day Sabbath is also commanded among the other ceremonial holidays in Leviticus 23. In other words, the seventh day Sabbath was part of the old jewish ceremonial laws that Christ abolished when He died on the cross. But do note that the ten commandments merely tell us to "remember" the Sabbath. It was already commanded in Genesis 2:2!

Now comes the tougher question, although I think I am now able to answer it well enough. When did the Sabbath change to Sunday? Some say that there is no longer a set day to worship God, since the Sabbath was ceremonial and was abolished. But when Christ abolished the ceremonial worhsip days (which were mere shadows pointing to Him) He also set in place Sunday as the new day for worship. Mark 2:27-28 shows Christ's power over the Sabbath and Hebrews 4:9-10 point out that there still is a Sabbath, and that it is to be observed on Christ's day of rest from His work on the cross (the first day of the week, Sunday). Paul states in Colossians 2:16 that we are no longer required to keep the ceremonial holy days that Christ did away with. And along with that I must put to you a quote from Dr. Joe Morecraft III, a man who has likely forgotten more about the Bible than I will ever learn. His book, How God Wants Us to Worhip Him, has been incredibly useful to me in the study of this topic, as his insight into the matter is much deeper than my own.

And the quote is as follows: "The point is obvious enough, but, amazingly, Colossians 2:16 is misused and perverted by most of the Christian church today. It is used to support the belief that now that Christ has come and placed believers under grace, we are no longer under any of the Old Testament laws. Most especially, we are no longer obligated to keep the Sabbath commands, not even on Sunday. Now, they tell us, all days are alike, holy unto the Lord, and the Fourth Commandment no longer applies to us. Therefore, these folks would have us disregard the Old Testament laws regarding Sabbath observance, and believe that what the Westminster Confession and Catechisms say on the subject are legalistic and should be disregarded as well. On Sunday, or whatever day is suitable to our situation, the anti-regulativists say we should celebrate the resurrection of Christ with our families and with other believers, but beyond that, Sunday is just another day to do as we please. They say that Sabbath keeping robs Christians of their liberty in Christ. As one man told me after a sermon I preached on keeping the Christian Sabbath:"I have been set free from the Law of God and I will not come back under its bondage in Sabbath observance!""

I believe that shows the misinterpretation of Colossians 2:16 far better than I could have. For a fellow believer in Christ, this should be enough biblical evidence offered to show that God created the Sabbath and still requires us to observe it, only now, on the day of Christ's resurrection and rest from His work of salvation. Search the Scriptures to see if it is true!

What are Sabbath appropriate activities? Well, work is obviously expressly prohibitted on the Sabbath, as well as business transactions and recreation (Exodus 20:10, Mark 11:15-17). I must say I could kick myself for forgetting to pack my copy of the Westminster Confession, as it would provide excellent insight here. Do note however that while the above things are forbidden, acts of mercy and necessity are allowed (Mark 2:24-26, Matthew 12:1-13). But in general, the following are actions allowed on the Sabbath: Worship of God, reading His Word, praying, singing of psalms and hymns, as well as sleeping. I'm quite sure that list is incomplete, but you get the idea I hope.

Well, my study, as always, is unfinished. But stated above is my understanding thus far of the Christian Sabbath. Any discussion on this note is more than welcome, as I would enjoy the insight of fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

APuritansMind · #2 (**permalink**) 07-19-2009, 03:27 PM

I'm praising God along with you, James! It is certainly refreshing to see what God can do in, and through, our young people.

kvanlaan · #3 (**permalink**) 07-19-2009, 03:33 PM

Wonderful! How old is he?

**Southern Presbyterian** · #4 (**permalink**) 07-19-2009, 03:40 PM

He's 22 and his boldness in the Lord is a constant source of surprise and blessing to me because he is so quite and deferential in other aspects of his life.

As a parent, you always wonder, "Is any of this getting through?" It would appear that much of it did. God is good!

LawrenceU · #5 (**permalink**) 08-15-2009, 11:02 PM

I just ran across this. What a wonderful work the Lord is doing in your son.

TimV · #6 (**permalink**) 08-16-2009, 12:13 AM

I'm very happy with you!