6-13-2020 Alfred Station Seventh Day BAPTIST Pastor Ken “That’s Really For Me?” Exodus 20;8-11
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Did you know the Ten Commandments can be controversial? The 4th commandment is controversial. In church today there are four groups of people:
1) Duty people who are at church as a duty.
2) Curious people who never heard a sermon about the 4th commandment.
3) Sunday worshippers who came to see what is going to be said about the 4th commandment.
4) Committed people who are committed to the 7th day Sabbath.
In the 4th commandment there is a covenant obligation. God set it out as a certain thing He expects people to do in this covenant document-Ten Commandments. If you take the 4th commandment out you destroy the covenant document, you destroy the covenant relationship with God. The 4th commandment is universal and it’s for everyone at all times. All the other 9 commandments are universal so the 4th commandment is universal too. When we look at the 4th commandment, we see the day of worship is the 7th day of the week-the Sabbath.
The Sabbath day is a weekly day that means break and rest. It occurs at the end of the week on the 7th day of the week. We don’t need to go all the way back to Genesis to see what God said about it. Look at Jesus. When did He go to worship and teach? Jesus went to church services on the 7th day which is the Sabbath. Sunday is the 1st day of the week and the Sabbath is the 7th day. The Sabbath starts at the sun down evening of the 6th day and ends at the evening close of the 7th day. Sabbath starts Friday evening and ends Saturday evening.
***Sabbath To Do’s
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1) Remember the Sabbath: Just like husbands have to remember their anniversary and wife’s birthday or they get in trouble; you need to remember the Sabbath.
2) Keep the Sabbath Holy: Rest on the 7th day because God made it sanctified and Holy. Keep our activities on this day Holy. Don’t do anything that brings sin. Only do things that keep the Sabbath Holy.
3) Six Days You Are to Labor and Do ALL Your Work: After Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, God told him that he would do farming labor and that there would be weeds. This is labor and this is our work NOT God’s work we are to do in the six days. We are to do OUR work, our labor in the six days.
4) We Are Not to Do Any Work: This means we are not to do OUR work on the Sabbath-7th day. No work for anyone in the household and no work for any farm animals either. The visiting strangers/aliens in the city are to keep the Sabbath too by not working.
***Work Definition:
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We all can decide what work is and what is not to be done on the Sabbath. In the Old Testament there is a list of what is deemed to be work. Today we have soul-liberty and don’t need to make that kind of list. But work can be a definite task that needs to be accomplished for oneself. Whatever you define work as, don’t do it on the 7th day because that is work for you. God rested on the 7th day after working 6 days making creation. He rested and blessed the day. God rested, blessed it and declared it to be a Holy day. This is what the Sabbath-the 7th day is, a blessed and Holy day. This is the 4th commandment that is in the covenant /agreement we have with God the Almighty, Our Father. We need to receive this gift of Sabbath rest God has given to us.
AMEN
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Did you know the Ten Commandments can be controversial? The 4th commandment is controversial. In church today there are four groups of people:
1) Duty people who are at church as a duty.
2) Curious people who never heard a sermon about the 4th commandment.
3) Sunday worshippers who came to see what is going to be said about the 4th commandment.
4) Committed people who are committed to the 7th day Sabbath.
In the 4th commandment there is a covenant obligation. God set it out as a certain thing He expects people to do in this covenant document-Ten Commandments. If you take the 4th commandment out you destroy the covenant document, you destroy the covenant relationship with God. The 4th commandment is universal and it’s for everyone at all times. All the other 9 commandments are universal so the 4th commandment is universal too. When we look at the 4th commandment, we see the day of worship is the 7th day of the week-the Sabbath.
The Sabbath day is a weekly day that means break and rest. It occurs at the end of the week on the 7th day of the week. We don’t need to go all the way back to Genesis to see what God said about it. Look at Jesus. When did He go to worship and teach? Jesus went to church services on the 7th day which is the Sabbath. Sunday is the 1st day of the week and the Sabbath is the 7th day. The Sabbath starts at the sun down evening of the 6th day and ends at the evening close of the 7th day. Sabbath starts Friday evening and ends Saturday evening.
***Sabbath To Do’s
--------------------------
1) Remember the Sabbath: Just like husbands have to remember their anniversary and wife’s birthday or they get in trouble; you need to remember the Sabbath.
2) Keep the Sabbath Holy: Rest on the 7th day because God made it sanctified and Holy. Keep our activities on this day Holy. Don’t do anything that brings sin. Only do things that keep the Sabbath Holy.
3) Six Days You Are to Labor and Do ALL Your Work: After Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, God told him that he would do farming labor and that there would be weeds. This is labor and this is our work NOT God’s work we are to do in the six days. We are to do OUR work, our labor in the six days.
4) We Are Not to Do Any Work: This means we are not to do OUR work on the Sabbath-7th day. No work for anyone in the household and no work for any farm animals either. The visiting strangers/aliens in the city are to keep the Sabbath too by not working.
***Work Definition:
-------------------------
We all can decide what work is and what is not to be done on the Sabbath. In the Old Testament there is a list of what is deemed to be work. Today we have soul-liberty and don’t need to make that kind of list. But work can be a definite task that needs to be accomplished for oneself. Whatever you define work as, don’t do it on the 7th day because that is work for you. God rested on the 7th day after working 6 days making creation. He rested and blessed the day. God rested, blessed it and declared it to be a Holy day. This is what the Sabbath-the 7th day is, a blessed and Holy day. This is the 4th commandment that is in the covenant /agreement we have with God the Almighty, Our Father. We need to receive this gift of Sabbath rest God has given to us.
AMEN
