Tonic for Sluggish Christians

by Kenneth Westby

“A good couch within easy reach of a low side table is a great way to enjoy TV. Remotes let you flit from channel to channel without moving your carcass out of reach of the chips and Coke, or pizza and beer. I’ve logged time—too much time—in that all-American position. When I see my grandkids assuming the same posture, I think those sluggish kids need some chores or to go outside and get some exercise.

You know a slug when you see one and words like apathetic, indolent, ambivalent, passive, unmotivated, ambitionless, slothful, tired, bored, and just plain lazy might be used to further describe a person in a near static state.

But are there sluggish Christians? Sure, I know plenty. I think I was one for a while. How might they be described?…”

(this article is an excerpt from the September-October 2008 edition of the Sabbath Sentinel)

To read the rest of this article, which starts on page 4, click this link: http://biblesabbath.org/tss/533/tss_533.pdf

Sabbath Meditation #4 – Eternal Pleasures At His Right Hand

by Kelly McDonald, Jr.

“Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none” (Ex. 16:26).

“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Psalms 16:11).

“And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full” (Psalm 78:24-25).

Meditate for a moment on the following: God gave the Israelites manna for six days. They were given one portion to gather the first five days of the week and twice as much to gather on the sixth day of the week. He did not give them any physical manna on the Sabbath. They had manna leftover from Friday morning to meet their physical needs during the Sabbath. This was the food of angels; this bread came from heaven! Apparently, Heaven does not pour out manna on Sabbath. Why?

Trying to gather manna on the Sabbath would prevent the Israelites from receiving something greater. God has something greater than manna to offer humanity on the seventh day. It is still available to us today. In other words, there is a deep spiritual need satisfied on the Sabbath; physical matter cannot meet our deepest needs on this day. It is holy and something set apart must be available to fulfill us and meet our deepest needs.

When Jesus came to earth, He said: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:32-35, KJV).

Jesus promised the church of Pergamum: “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it” (Rev. 2:17b, KJV).

Jesus Christ is Lord of the Sabbath; He is greater than the manna from Heaven because He meets our deepest spiritual longings. The cure for human unrest is to connect with Jesus on the day He blessed. It is a blessing that cannot be seen with the human eye; it is hidden spiritual manna. He has something special for us every Sabbath that quenches our deepest longings.

The rest we dedicate to God on the Sabbath by not working and laboring (physically, mentally, and emotionally) enables us to make that special connection to Christ that is only available on the Sabbath. Through the Holy Spirit within you, focus upward to Christ and receive eternal pleasures from His right hand.  The physical eye cannot see it, but the Spirit within us longs for it.

When we engage the earthly realm through work and labor on the Sabbath, then our inner man cannot receive the full effect of rest. What God has made available to us cannot be seen by the natural eye – it is not quantifiable by the natural realm.

“12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual” (I Cor. 2:12-13).

Lastly, consider this thought: the physical Tabernacle in the Old Testament was created as a representation of heavenly things (Hebrews 8:1-5). Among the special items created for the Tabernacle was the Table of Shewbread. It was overlaid with gold. Special bread was heated and placed on this table every Sabbath.

“And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway” (Exodus 25:30, KJV).

“And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the Lord. Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant” (Lev. 24:7-8, KJV).

The Hebrew word translated as “shew” is paniym; it means the face or presence (by extension, the face of a person is in his/her presence). On the Sabbath, we have the bread of God’s presence. His face is turned towards us.

On the Sabbath, we graduate from physical manna to the hidden manna – the bread of His presence. In His presence is fullness of joy.

“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2, ESV).

We will continue this thought in our next Sabbath meditation.

Selah.

Kelly McDonald, Jr

BSA President, www.biblesabbath.org

 

Do Sabbatarians Have a Documented History in the U.S. before 1800?

by Joe Bellefeuille

 

Yes, Sabbatarians have a long and rich history in the United States. There are written records of sabbatarians in Rhode Island going back to the 1670’s. In my brief survey of early American sabbatarians, I have found evidence of sabbatarians in ten of the thirteen colonies and references to 31 sabbatarian congregations/groups in nine of the colonies.

 

In order to share some of this surprising information in an organized format, this article is divided into the following categories:

1. Questions & Answers
2. A list of 31 known pre-1800 congregations/groups
3. A list of some family surnames of early Sabbatarians
4. Bibliography of sources consulted

 

1. Questions & Answers

Who was the earliest known American sabbatarian?

• Stephen Mumford. He came from England to Newport, Rhode Island in 1664. (Gaustad’s New Historical Atlas of Religion in America on page 3 mentions colonial records of Connecticut that state there were “four or five seventh day men” there in 1670. Unfortunately, the reference does not identify who they were, when they originally arrived, or where they lived.)

 

Where was the first known American sabbatarian congregation?…
(this article is an excerpt from the March-April 2006 edition of the Sabbath Sentinel)

 

To read the rest of this article, which starts on page 14, click this link: http://biblesabbath.org/tss/518/tss_518.pdf

Sabbath Meditation #3 – The Failure of Human Effort

By Kelly McDonald, Jr.

“Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none” (Ex. 16:26).

“Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates” (Ex.  20:9-10).

God did mighty signs and wonders for the Israelites to bring them out of Egypt. He even parted the Red Sea. God’s people walked across on dry ground and were delivered from Pharaoh’s army. After this series of incredible events, God performed another miracle for them. He gave them manna from heaven.

This manna served as food, but it had a greater purpose. The people were asked to gather one portion of manna for five days and then twice as much on the sixth day. On the seventh day, the people were asked to gather none. God used the manna to reveal to them which day of the week was the Sabbath. The Egyptians used a 10-day work week, so God had to restore Israel to His sacred rhythm. However, there is an even deeper lesson to be learned through this event.

Manna was how God provided for their physical needs. However, no amount of gathering manna on the Sabbath could please God – and no amount of gathering would satisfy human needs. Only the manna saved up from the sixth day was important for physical needs. In a similar fashion, we read in Exodus that we are commanded to work for six days and then rest on the seventh day.

As I ponder these details, it reminds me that my human effort alone will always fall short. It reminds me that where I fall short God’s completed work is so much greater. He will pick up the difference for my failure in a way that is so much greater than anything work could ever accomplish.

When I meditate on this understanding further, I also consider the specific areas in which I fall short. As I have honored the Sabbath over the years, I have learned more and more to surrender my failures to God and ask for His supernatural strength to overcome. I realize that the Sabbath is the time for me to give up trying to figure it out on my own. I need to let Him work it out.

What God can accomplish on the seventh day is so much greater than what my work can accomplish in the previous six days. The dominion given to humans in Genesis will fall short. Trying to carry my work or dominion over into the seventh day will not accomplish anything; I just need to give it up and over to Him.

Lastly, I have come to appreciate grace and salvation more as I honor the Sabbath. Because I am weekly reminded of the failure of human effort, I see how God’s grace is so needed. I appreciate it so much more each Sabbath that comes and goes.

The Sabbath is the way to acknowledge that the Creator’s rest of one day can do more in us than what our own human effort can accomplish in six days. I look up to Heaven so much more now that I understand His Sabbath rest, and I acknowledge that His work is so much greater than mine. With all this in mind, meditate on the following verses:

“1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2 My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2)

Truly, there is something available for us in the Sabbath rest that cannot be gained by physical work or labor.

We will explore this more in our next Sabbath meditation.

Selah.

 Kelly McDonald, Jr.; BSA President

www.biblesabbath.org