Rom 14-Taboo or not Taboo-3
| Taboo or Not Taboo – Part 3Sabbath Principles in the New Covenant! Romans 14:1-9
August 3, 2008(New Living Translation) 1Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. 2For instance, one person believes it’s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. 3Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t. And those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them. 4Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? They are responsible to the Lord, so let him judge whether they are right or wrong. And with the Lord’s help, they will do what is right and will receive his approval.5In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable. 6Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor him. Those who eat any kind of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who refuse to eat certain foods also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God. 7For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. 8If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9Christ died and rose again for this very purpose—to be Lord both of the living and of the dead.PRAY Scripture Memory: Let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up. – Romans 14:19 (NLT) Intro:How many of you believe the ten commandments should be followed by Christians today? How many of you feel that you, for the most part, make a real effort to keep these commandments? Nine of them are pretty clear and obvious, at least on the surface: Have no other gods before the One True God; Don’t worship idols; Don’t use His Name in a flippant way; Honor your parents; Don’t murder; Don’t commit adultery; Don’t steal; Don’t lie; Don’t covet. However, the OTHER one…Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy…(NLT) 5Some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable. 6Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor him. 1. What is a “Sabbath day?”2. Why is the Christian Sabbath on Sunday?3. What is a strict “Sabbatarian?”4. Why are many Christians strict Sabbatarians?5. Why aren’t we strict Sabbatarians?6. What, then, should we do about the 4th Commandment?1. What is a “Sabbath day?”Hebrew: “shabath” – root means to cease, to desist – doubled b has intensive force, implying a complete cessation – The idea is not that of relaxation or refreshment, but cessation of activity. (Vines)!! ☞ A Sabbath Day is a Day of Cessation from Everyday Work
Exodus 16:22-30 – the gathering of the manna – NOTE: This was instituted BEFORE the giving of the law.☞ A Biblical Sabbath is One in Seven.Exodus 20:9-10 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. NOTE: There were several other Sabbath celebrations in the Jewish calendar.☞ A Biblical Sabbath is a Holy Day, a Day Uniquely Set Apart for God.Isaiah 58:13-1413“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’S holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,14then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” The mouth of the LORD has spoken. One of the major indictments in the later OT books is that Israel has desecrated the Sabbath by conducting business as usual (Neh. 13:15-18; Jer. 17:19-23)☞ The Biblical Sabbath is a Sign Between God and His People to remind us that He is the Lord who makes us holy, a sign of Israel’s identity as God’s covenant people.Exodus 31:12-13 – 12Then the LORD said to Moses, 13“Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me & you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy.Ezekiel 20:12 – I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the LORD made them holy.☞ The biblical Sabbath is an Acknowledgement and Remembrance that God created the world and all its inhabitants. Gen. 2:2-3 – 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.☞ The Biblical Sabbath is a Day of “Sacred Assembly.”!!!! Leviticus 23:3 – There are 6 days when you may work, but the 7th day is a Sabbath of rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD.
The Sabbath is also important “to afford a suitable time for the public and private worship of God and the religious instruction of the people.” Charles Hodge☞ The Biblical Sabbath is a Gift from God to His People.The Sabbath was made for man (Mark 2:27), as a day of rest and refreshment for the body and of blessing to the soul.“God made it for men… because they needed it. The need, therefore, is deeply hidden in human nature. He who can dispense with it must be holy and spiritual, indeed. And he who, still unholy and unspiritual, would yet dispense with it is a man that would fain be wiser than his Maker.” F. W. Robertson 2. Why is the Christian Sabbath on Sunday?In the 1st Century Christians gathered on the first day of the week to remember the death and resurrection of Christ. (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2) True, we can give no text authorizing the change in so many words. We have no express law declaring the change. But there are evidences of another kind. We know for a fact that the first day of the week has been observed from apostolic times, and the necessary conclusion is, that it was observed by the apostles and their immediate disciples. This, we may be sure, they never would have done without the permission or the authority of their Lord. Easton’s Bible Dictionary 3. What is a strict “Sabbatarian?” | | 4. Why are many Christians strict Sabbatarians?☞ It is a “creation ordinance.”Gen. 2:2-3 – 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.☞ It is the 4th Commandment in the Decalogue, God’s enduring moral law. (Ex. 20:8-11 ; Dt. 5:12-15)NOTE: It was a standard which God demanded of His people even before the giving of the law at Mt. Sinai (Ex. 16 – collecting the Manna) 5. Why aren’t we strict Sabbatarians?!! The Danger of Legalism
Romans 14:1, 4,-6, 131Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. 4Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.5One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 13Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way. Colossians 2:16-1716Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Mark 2:27 – Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 6. What, then, should we do about the Fourth Commandment?!! Rom. 14:5-6
5One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord.
Review:
Five Biblical Sabbath Principles:1. A Sabbath Day is a day of refraining from all unnecessary work2. A Biblical Sabbath is one in seven.3. A Biblical Sabbath is a holy day, a day uniquely set apart for God.4. The Biblical Sabbath is a sign between God and His people to remind us: ☞ that He is the Lord who makes us holy.☞ that He created the world and all its inhabitants. ☞ (As changed to the first clay of the week) of the fact of the ascension of the crucified Redeemer and his session at the right hand of power, the great central fact in Christianity.5. The Biblical Sabbath is a day of “sacred assembly.” **NOTE: If time is gone: do “primary” issues…** If Time:One Final Note: The Sabbath Rest and the change from the 7th day to the 1st.Hebrews 4:1-11
1Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. 3Now 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. 4For somewhere he has spoken about the 7th day in these words: “And on the 7th day God rested from all his work.” 5And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”6It 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. 7Therefore 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.”8For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.The Sabbath is a gift to us, a reminder of His grace and of our need to seek Him. The Primary issue is have you entered God’s rest?The Other issue is, having entered His rest, are you walking in the obedience that accompanies that rest? A Truth to Remember: The Sabbath Day is a gift from God to His people.A Challenge to Consider:Does your remembrance of the Sabbath day make it holy? Or is it little more than a couple of hours a week, at best? One thing I heard this morning was… |