Sabbath Ideas! – Free Resource

On this interesting website, you will find over 350 Sabbath activities for your family and church. These interactive activities will enhance your understanding of the Sabbath. And, you will have fun doing it!

 

http://www.sabbathideas.org/p/home.html

Keeping the Sabbath and Keeping Your Job

By Dr. Daniel Botkin

 

“I’d like to keep the Sabbath, but I can’t — I have to work on Saturdays.” Wrong. You may think so, but you are mistaken. No one who believes in keeping the Sabbath has to work on Saturdays, at least not in America. No one is pointing a gun at the heads of American Christians and Jews and forcing them to work on Saturdays. Americans who work on the Sabbath do so by their own choice, not because they have to. There were many Sabbathkeeping Christians in Communist Russia who were ordered by their oppressive government to work on Saturdays. Many of these Christians chose to obey God rather than man, and they lost a lot more than some crummy job. They suffered imprisonment, exile, and torture for refusing to break God’s holy Sabbath.

 

When we stand with these faithful saints before the Lord on Judgment Day, will any of us have the gall to say, “Well, Lord, I wanted to keep the Sabbath, but I couldn’t — I had to work on Saturdays”? How does a disciple of the Messiah go about getting every Sabbath off from his job? First of all, you do not go in and ask your employer if you can have Saturdays off. You are not there to make a request; you are there to inform. You inform your employer (politely and respectfully, of course) that you will not be available to work from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. Your employer may respond in a number of ways: • “I’ll see what we can do to accommodate you, but in the meantime you’ll have to keep working Saturdays.” • “We can give you Saturdays off, but you’ll have to work for a few hours on Friday nights.” • “We’ll do our best to accommodate you, but we may have to occasionally ask you to come in on a Saturday if we’re short of help.” None of these responses is acceptable.”

 

(This article is an excerpt from the March-May 1999 edition of the Sabbath Sentinel)

 

To read the rest of this article, which starts on page 11, click the link below:

http://biblesabbath.org/tss/476/tss_476.pdf

Is Jesus our Sabbath? (Part 2 of 2)

By Marsha Basner

In the last blog, we began to examine the argument that “Jesus is our Sabbath”. This has used by some to say that the seventh-day Sabbath is no longer in effect or that it has been changed.

We finished part 1 of this blog by showing that the Apostles observed the Sabbath 85 times in the New Testament. If the 7th day Sabbath was to be rejected and broken by the Apostles and the early church, where is that evidence there in the NT?

Why on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 did the Apostles not tell the 3000 Jews that they were no longer to keep the Sabbath?

Why didn’t Gamaliel, the Chief Justice of the Sanhedrin, REBUKE the Apostles for teaching against the Sabbath and have them stoned them for breaking it? In Gamaliel’s conclusion about Christians we read found NOTHING errant in their teaching and he said to the court:

“And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to naught: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.” (Acts 5:38-39)

This testimony alone, which was by the disciples’ enemies, proves that they were not teaching that “Jesus was the Sabbath”. It also demonstrates that they were not teaching the newly baptized believers to break the 7th day Sabbath!

Let’s continue this conversation by examining other conversions in the book of Acts. Why weren’t the Samaritans in Acts chapter 8 told that they no longer needed to keep the Sabbath upon their conversion? They were Sabbath observant as were the Jewish people. Later in Acts 8, why wasn’t the Ethiopian treasurer told that He no longer needed to keep the Sabbath? He was apparently part of the Ethiopian Jews which existed since the time of Solomon’s temple.

In Acts chapter 9 we learn about Paul, who searched with “arrest warrants” for the Messianic believers in Damascus. When he had that vision of Jesus, why wasn’t he told then or upon his baptism, to stop keeping the Sabbath? But let’s revisit where Paul was going when he received that vision. The text says:

“And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.” (Acts 9:1-2)

So WHERE was Paul going to arrest these disciples? To the Synagogues of Damascus…… Synagogues??? Yes, Synagogues. It is obvious that these new believers were keeping the Sabbath, otherwise why would they be still in the Synagogues?

What about Cornelius IN Acts chapter 10; why was he not told that “Jesus was his Sabbath”?

Then Lydia in Acts 16, who was worshiping on the Sabbath, was not told to cease and desist from her worship on the Sabbath since “Jesus was her Sabbath” now?

In Acts 19, the disciples of John, who was a Levitical priest, would have been strict Sabbath keepers. When they were counseled for Baptism, why were they not told that “Jesus was their Sabbath” and that they were free to break the Sabbath that they had received from John?

Paul in his trails before Festus and Felix, if he had been a Sabbath breaker, witnesses most certainly would have come forth, against him and he would have received the death penalty, but were there any witnesses for him being a Sabbath breaker? Why because Paul never broke the 7th day Sabbath. From his own words we read his testimony: “While he answered for himself, Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I offended anything at all.” (Acts 24:8)

Moving into the future, Messianic age, in we read that the sabbath is STILL going to be observed, in Isaiah 66:23.

So those who make such claim, that the Sabbath is not be observed because “Jesus is our Sabbath” have not even one scripture upon which to base their position.

Truly our Savior and King, gives us rest, peace, mercy, strength, but He Himself kept the Sabbath throughout His lifetime. The disciples of His were noted to be keeping it at the time of His death in Luke 23:56. Nowhere do we see Him rebuking them for forgetting that He was their Sabbath.

So we categorically reject the claim that Jesus is now our Sabbath, there is not one example or verse to support their claim. This is not a teaching from the scriptures, but is truly from the doctrines of man.

I want to admonish you all to continue to “contend for the faith once delivered to the saints”, which included the keeping of the 7th Day Sabbath of the 10 commandments.

Blessings,

Marsha Basner

Marsha Basner served on the board of the BSA for many years. www.biblesabbath.org

The King’s Daughter and Other Stories For Girls

By J.E. White

This book contains stories to teach girls character and how to deal with difficult moral decisions. These stories were compiled from orphanage stories used in the United States many years ago. Fortunately, Godly character does not have a time period attached to it. These timeless stories will encourage girls to choose right from wrong. Read them to your children and even grandchildren!

 

To order this book, just click the link below:

https://biblesabbath.org/shopping/pgm-more_information.php?id=47&=SID

Is Jesus our Sabbath? (Part 1 of 2)

By Marsha Basner

Many people today say that they don’t need to keep the Sabbath using the argument that “Jesus is my Sabbath.” This may sound good to them and to others, but is this true? Can this be proven from the scriptures?

Did Jesus ever say that He was the Sabbath or that He somehow replaced the seventh-day Sabbath? Let’s look at the scripture which people use to support this belief. In Matthew 11:28, Jesus said: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

The Greek word for “rest” in this text is: anapauó or ἀναπαύω. It means to give rest, give intermission from labor, by implication to refresh.

Scripturetext.com gives a more complete explication of the term anapauó ἀναπαύω, which is condensed from several lexicons. “anapaúō (from 303 /aná, “up, completing a process,” which intensifies 3973 /paúō, “pause”) – properly, to give (experience) rest after the needed task is completed; to pause (rest) “after precious toil and care” (Vine/Unger, White, NT).

Word Origin from ana and pauó Definition to give rest, give intermission from labor, by impl. refresh NASB Word Usage give…rest (1), refresh (1), refreshed (3), rest (3), resting (2), rests (1), take your ease (1). take ease, refresh, give rest. From ana and pauo; (reflexively) to repose (literally or figuratively (be exempt), remain); by implication, to refresh — take ease, refresh, (give, take) rest.”

Notice that not ONCE in the MANY definitions of this Greek word, can we find the word “Sabbath”! When analyzing the Greek, Matthew 11:28 fails to provide support for their position that “Jesus is the Sabbath”.

This type of error is called isogesis which is an interpretation of Scripture that expresses the interpreter’s own preconceived ideas, or bias, vs the seeking the actual meaning of the text.

Let’s be mindful that Jesus NEVER claimed to be the Sabbath. So for those who claim that He did are “bearing false witness against Him”. That is a serious offence.

Additionally the Apostles NEVER claimed Jesus was their Sabbath. We actually read of the Apostles keeping the Sabbath 85 times in the New Testament!

We will continue this next week!

Marsha Basner served on the board of the BSA for many years. www.biblesabbath.org

Sabbath Truth – Free Videos!

This free website has instructional videos and articles about the Sabbath. One of the prominent features available through this group is a 10-part series understanding the history of the Sabbath.

Just click the link below to access this FREE resource!

 

http://www.sabbathtruth.com/free-resources/seventh-day-video-series/id/966/the-seventh-day-part-1

How We Are Judged

By R. Herbert

 

“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done” (Revelation 22:12). Most new Christians soon come to the understanding that we are saved by faith—that our own best efforts can never “earn” God’s forgiveness and acceptance, and that it is through faith that we receive the gift of salvation. But is that all there is to the Christian life—once “saved,” are we eventually rewarded according to our faith? Since the time of the Reformation, Protestants have stressed the concept of sola fide, or “faith only.” While this concept is firmly based on clear teachings in the writings of Paul regarding salvation, modern theologians admit that it does downplay other things written by the same apostle.

 

The same Paul who so strongly denies that works have any role in justifying us (Romans 3:20, 28; Romans 4:1–8; Galatians 2:16; Galatians 3:2–5; Philippians 3:9) is equally clear in stressing the role of obedience in final judgment (Romans 2:13; Romans 14:10–12; 1 Corinthians 3:10–15; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 2 Corinthians 11:15; Galatians 6:7–8 and see also Hebrews 12:14; Matthew 7:24-27; Luke 10:25-28). Making things seem even more complex for some is the fact that Paul sometimes puts forward both these approaches within the same letters—as we see, for example, in his letter to the Romans: “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law…. For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law” (Romans 3:20-28). “For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous” (Romans 2:13)…”

 

(This article is an excerpt from the Summer 2015 edition of the Sabbath Sentinel)

 

To read the rest of this article, which starts on page 8, click this link:

http://biblesabbath.org/media/TSSSUMMER2015.pdf

The Sabbath: A Guiding Light for Life

by Kelly McDonald, Jr.

“For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:” (Proverbs 6:23)

A lamp provides light in darkness. We live in a dark world. All of God’s commandments can be looked at as a lamp because each one provides light to guide us in this world. Light illuminates an unseen path; it makes the uncertainty of our path more sure. We could take each commandment in the Law and explain in detail the guiding light it provides.

One commandment in particular, the Sabbath, routinely guides our lives. When we have purposed in our heart to rest on the Sabbath, our weekly actions are all focused with the Sabbath in mind. Lawn work, washing the cars, our job, weekly grocery shopping and so forth are all planned out with the central focus that the Sabbath is to be honored. This means we make decisions throughout the week. If we can’t get some things done before the Sabbath, then we put them off until after the Sabbath is over.

In other words, the Sabbath is the guiding light for our activities throughout the week. It helps us prioritize what is most important in our lives – the most important activity being the special rest of God that starts Friday at sunset.

Allow the Sabbath to be a light in your life to guide your weekly activities so that you enter into God’s rest.

Kelly McDonald, Jr. is the current president of the BSA. You can visit His website here: kellymcdonaldjr.com