![]() They are not judgmental, they seek no strife, they do not judge each other’s conscience, are observant and helpful and are willing to go the extra mile if needed - 'this is the second commandment'! The 'Commandment Keeping People' love God with all their heart, they seek to *know* their God personally to learn from HimĪnd understand His Will to live their lives accordingly - 'this is the first commandment'! The commandment does not say, "Remember the Sabbath day" the true meaning is in the whole sentence, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it Holy." I am not denying the importance of the Sabbath, but in our defence of the Sabbath, the contention point between us and other Christians, do we need to be reminded that the Sabbath day is when we worship God in "spirit and truth"? But have we become so concerned about the day that we have forgotten its purpose? The place of worship had become a contention point between the Jews and Samaritans but Jesus pointed out that it was more important to worship God in "Spirit and Truth". We believe that we are the true church worshipping on the right day We have even incorporated that idea into our name. Why am I telling this story when the lesson is about "Remember". God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:19-24 NKJV But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. You worship what you do not know we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. This is the record of their conversation: The Samaritan woman raised the issue about the true place of worship. This of course is the background to the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. They saw the Temple on Mount Moriah as an imposter. They had their own Torah, and they believed that Mount Gerizim was the original holy place established by Joshua when he lead the Children of Israel into the promised land. Their religion had not been contaminated with ideas from Mesopotamia. They believed that they were the true religion, based on the Hebrew religion before the Babylonian captivity. I want to tell you a bit about the Samaritans. What is it about the Sabbath that makes it something that can distinguish us as “the commandment-keeping people” more so than, perhaps, any of the other commandments? Look at this statement from the Lord’s servant. His Word declares the Sabbath to be a sign by which to distinguish the commandment-keeping people … Those who keep the law of God will be one with Him in the great controversy commenced in heaven between Satan and God.” - Ellen G. “By keeping His Sabbath holy we are to show that we are His people. The Sabbath is a sign that communicates that God is the Creator of the world and the Creator of our salvation. Creation and re-creation belong together. Indeed, in remembering Creation and its Creator, God’s people also remember God’s gracious acts of salvation (see Deuteronomy 5:14, where the Sabbath is seen, in this context, as a sign of deliverance from Egypt, a symbol of the ultimate salvation found in God). Again, when we understand the covenant to be a relationship between God and humankind, the Sabbath, which can greatly help strengthen that relationship, comes into specific prominence. He or she remains in the covenant relationship, because he or she remains in the Lord. The person who remembers the keeping of the Sabbath has a promising, rich, and meaningful future with the Lord of the Sabbath. Thus, the Sabbath has important implications for us now, in the present.įinally, remembering the Sabbath also points us forward. We are not only to “remember” the Sabbath ( Exodus 20:8) we are to “observe” and “keep” it (see Deuteronomy 5:12, RSV). The injunction to remember has implications also for the present. Image © Educational Concepts Collection at ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |