Grace Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Wednesday,
January 24, 2018
The doctrine of the Sabbath.
- The temporal Sabbath or rest, Heb 3:7-13.
b. The moment by moment Sabbath, Heb 4:1-7.
- The third type of Sabbath is the interim stage of the Sabbath or rest which begins the day of your death or Rapture to the eternal Sabbath of eternal life; Mat 11:28.
In 6 days God took the earth, which was a mess from the ruler-ship of Satan and He restored and converted it into a wonderful place to live.
In 6 days He provided everything that man would need on the earth to survive and live in happiness = Food, perfect climate, a garden, He even provided a Bible class with the greatest Bible teacher of all time...the Lord God.
The verb is kalah which means to end, to be finished, to complete, to be totally at rest.
Rested - Qal imperfect of shabath ie. Sabbath means to rest.
On the 7th day or on Saturday, God finished His work, in Gen 2:2.
Gen 2:2 says...that He ended or finished His work. This is what we call ”Sabbath" or the "rest of grace". Everything that man would ever need was provided by God. So...He rested.
Perfect environment was provided and nothing could be added to it!
This is what we call grace...God does the work and man does the benefitting.
Gen 2:2 to Exo 16:23, no reference is made to the Sabbath. So you go at least from Gen 2:2 to Exo 16 which is approximately 1441 B.C.
This is why the Sabbath is like circumcision and baptism = not needed for salvation since there were thousands of years where the Sabbath was even acknowledged let alone celebrated.
They would work for 6 days...Sunday through Friday. Then, on the 7th day, Saturday, man would rest.
As Paul said in Rom 11:6 "But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace."
There is nothing like stopping the routine and having a day when things completely stop. So that you can be reminded of grace. "Rest" is a memorial to the grace of God.
Just like God provided for Adam in perfect environment, God has provided for you in eternity past everything you will ever need.
The Sabbath always had this connotation! It was a "thinking day" not a working day! A day the grace of God was to be commemorated.
The N.T. application of the Sabbath is the subject of rest.
Rest is a peace in the mind and spirit.Rest means that I'm free from worrying, anxiety
frustration, etc.
It also means to remain confident. To trust under extreme pressure.
The most popular O.T. Hebrew word is the word nuwach -it means to settle down, (which is something many people need); To give comfort;
To be at rest from troubles and anxieties.
Loipoi, the most popular Greek word for rest means recreation and the remaining rest for the believer.
One Greek word I want to give you is anapauo = to cease from work in order to receive strength.
The state of mind in which there is complete and total peace being free from worries, anxieties and fears.
Point 2. Salvation Rest, Mat 11:28. Salvation is described in terms of rest, the rest of eternal life.
Eternal life is not characterized by resting, but by tranquility and blessing.
Point 3. Supergrace Rest.
The land of Canaan is a type of the supergrace life, and in the context of Heb 3:11, supergrace is manifest by faith‑rest.
The maximum use of faith-rest with doctrine and the maximum application of doctrine from the heart or the right lobe of the soul.
Heb 3:11 as I swore in my wrath, 'they shall not enter my rest.' "
Heb 4:1‑3 (in Heb 4:3 we have what is known an elliptical oath which says that this rest was provided for the Jews in eternity past, yet their disobedience of unbelief will keep them out of it.
There is a temporal sabbath i.e., mentioned in Heb 3:11 and this is for all believers. This is the sabbath for the mature believer.
- If you had saddled a horse on Friday, you could not remove the saddle if the horse was still saddled on the sabbath. On Saturday you couldn't saddle or unsaddle a horse.
- On Saturday you couldn't cook anything.
- If you have mud on your robe you were not allowed to clean it off.
- You couldn't stop anyone from bleeding on the Sabbath, you had to wait for Sunday'The commandment said to remember grace." The commandment was a ritual. It had to do with what you think.
Heb 3:7-10, Notice the phrase in verse 10...they have not known my ways.
The modern tendency of apostasy today stresses the works and production of the believer. just like the Jews distorted the ritual sabbath, most Christians distort the real one.
The main problem is the believers ignorance of doctrine.
When God gets down to indicting you He doesn't mention your failure to do this or that but He indicts you for your stupidity and ignorance concerning His plan.
Ignorance of doctrine means a breakdown of the spiritual sabbath in your life which is in reality....faith-rest.
This rest is a state in which the believer has a relaxed mental attitude no matter what the situation may look like.
A heart of unbelief is a heart without rest.
No faith-rest is to say God is a liar.