２０２５年６月１日～約１年間かけ、キリスト教入門・神学コースで学んでいきたいと思います。只毎回集いたいのに集えない学びたいけど１年間を通すとなれば～？？？と思う方朗報です！この度HPから見る・学ぶことが可能になりました。数年後あ！こんな話してたよねって振り返えり誰かの力になることもあると思います。

 　　　　　24. ２５ The Christian Sabbath　

24. ２５ The Christian Sabbath

(BMC Manual) We recognize the first day of the week as being the Christian Sabbath under the present dispensation. It was the custom of the New Testament churches to meet for worship on the first day of the week. It was also selected and held sacred because the Lord Himself was resurrected on that day, and He further emphasized it by pouring out the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1-19; I Corinthians 16:2).

God creates the Sabbath.

    Gen 2:1  Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 

     Gen 2:2  And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on    the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 

     Gen 2:3  And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. 

The idea of a Sabbath did not originate with man and many times goes directly contrary to modern ideas. The Sabbath was God's perfect creation. He lovingly made the Sabbath for us to enjoy.

A day of rest

The Sabbath is a day of rest from normal work and schedules.

God gave us a precedent by resting from His labor and taking one day of the week as a time to rest.

This is something that all humans have needed from the very beginning of the world.

Our bodies need rest and a change of pace.  We live in such a busy world that unless God commanded us to rest, we may forget to rest and take a break from our many daily duties. We must be careful not to make Sunday the day in which we catch up on all the things we didn't get done during the week.

Saturday as a day of preparation

If we will properly prepare for the Sabbath day on Saturday, Sunday can truly be a day of rest.

Little things like washing the car, getting fuel, grocery shopping, homework and ironing can be taken care of on Friday or Saturday so that Sunday is truly a day set aside for rest and worship.

After church on Sunday and the lunch meal, maybe a nap would be in order? If the weather is nice, how about some time at a park? If the weather is bad, some extra reading of good Christian books and the Bible would be a wonderful way to refuel for the coming week.

Our soul needs rest from the rush and noise of the work/school week and Sunday is a whole day dedicated to God and giving rest to our soul and body.

Sunday, a special day of worship

On the Sabbath day God rested from His labors and looked at His creation and said, “it is very good.” He wants us to sit back and look at our Creator and say, “What a wonderful God!” This is a time to sit back and remember the goodness of God. All week our minds are full of what has to be done, our chores, our work, our responsibilities, but Sunday is when we can worship God with all our heart, mind,soul and strength!

Isa 58:13  If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: 

Isa 58:14  Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth...

Working on Sunday Exodus 20:10     

The Bible makes it very clear that we are not to do any secular work on the Sabbath day. It is to be a day of total rest from secular activities.

But there are several kinds of “work” that are worthy to be called Sabbath day work.

     Mercy work    Mark 3:1-5

Doctors, nurses, firefighters, emergency personnel take their turns working on Sunday to keep us safe and healthy. We thank God for their sacrifice!

Also Jesus did good on the Sabbath. He healed people, helped people and talked about how “any man who has an ox fall into the ditch on the Sabbath will not hestitate to pull him out”

Sunday is a day to do good to our family, friends and the poor and needy.

     Ministry work  Matthew 12:5      Colossians 3:23-24

We may be involved in church ministry and Sunday may not feel like a day of rest. For pastors and evangelists it can be the busiest day of the week. Hopefully even if you have responsibilities on Sunday, if you plan right on Saturday, you can still get some extra rest on Sunday. But let us think of our work for the Lord on Sunday in this way. All week we work for ourselves and our family. We work to make money, we work to provide for our family, we work for ourselves....but on Sunday we get the chance to work for God! To give the best we can for Him!

It is because of Him that we have strength to work all week long! Let's make our work/ministry on Sunday a “thanks offering” to God. He gives us life, He gives us strength, He gives us joy and rest.

Not just for the Jews but all mankind

Mark_2:27  And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

Part of the eternal Moral Law, the Ten Commandments

Exo_20:8  Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.          

No buying or selling

Nehemiah_10:31  And if the people of the land bring ware or  any victuals (food ) on the sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the sabbath...

Transition to SUNDAY   (Jews and 7^th day Adventists still worship on Saturday)

·    The Jews did not began regularly worshipping on Saturday until 359 AD.

·    The Jews commemorated the Sabbath on a date not a day of the week. The 15^th day of Abib was required to be a Sabbath.

After Jesus came, the Jewish Sabbath was turned into the Christian Sabbath. These are some of the ways God showed us how special a day Sunday is.

·    Resurrection on Sunday   Matthew 28:1

·    Pentecost was on a Sunday 

·    Early church assembled on Sunday   John 20:19    Acts 20:7

·    Sunday offerings and assembly   1 Corinthians  16:2

Does God's way work?     

In Scotland in the 16 and 1700s...the Sabbath was kept very strictly.

Any kind of labor unless it was necessary or a work of mercy was forbidden. Pleasure and entertainment were limited to a walk to and from church. No newspapers or storybooks. After the Sunday morning service, the talk around the table was to be about the sermon, then it was time for Sunday school and then the evening worship service. After Sunday night church it was time for family devotions and memorizing Scripture.

No yelling or whistling or loud laughing was allowed in Scotland and this all created a very quiet and worshipful day.

Sunday had a way of convicting and sobering even the worst sinner.

What were the fruits of this strict Sabbath observance?

It became very hard for anyone to become openly sinful. Every church had pastor, every village had a school, and almost every home had a Bible and the children and parents alike would read that Bible daily. You could live in Scotland for years during those days and never hear a cuss word and almost any home you went to would have family devotions. The bar tenders were always complaining that nobody came to their bars because everyone was staying sober.

What modern man says is impractical or impossible will prove to be a blessing if carried out just as God instructed.