SUBJECT:   Sabbath

QUESTION:  How does one keep the Sabbath holy?  What can one do or not do on the Sabbath?

ANSWER:

Keeping the Sabbath "holy"; what does that mean?

First, let us look at that word "holy".

HOLY

Moral and ethical wholeness or perfection; freedom from moral evil. Holiness is one of the essential elements of God's nature required of His people. Holiness may also be rendered "sanctification" or "godliness." The word holy denotes that which is "sanctified" or "set apart" for divine service.

While holy is sometimes used in a ceremonial sense, the main use is to describe God's righteous nature or the ethical righteousness demanded of His followers <Isaiah 1:10-14; Matthew 12:7>. Originating in God's nature, holiness is a unique quality of His character. The Bible emphasizes this divine attribute. "Who is like you, O Lord?" <Exodus 15:11>. "There is none holy like the Lord" <1 Samuel 2:2>. "Who shall not fear You, O Lord... For You alone are holy" <Revelation 15:4>. God's high expectations of His people flow out of His own holy nature: "You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" <Exodus 19:6>; "sanctify yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the Lord your God" <Leviticus 20:7>.

Jesus was the very personification of holiness; He reinforced God's demands for holiness by insisting that His disciples must have a higher quality of righteousness than that of the scribes and Pharisees <Matthew 5:20>. Like the prophets Amos and Hosea, Jesus appealed for more than ceremonial holiness: "I desire mercy and not sacrifice" <Hosea 6:6; Matthew 12:7>.

Paul's prayer for the saints at Thessalonica is timeless in its application to the church and individual believers: "And may the Lord make you increase in love and abound in love... so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints" <1 Thessalonians 3:12-13>. ~from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary

---Look at those phrases used above…

"freedom from moral evil."

"set apart"

"God’s righteous nature"

"originating in God’s nature"

"higher quality of righteousness"

"may establish your hearts blameless in holiness"

God’s nature is one of certain principles.  A small list of those principles are listed in Galatians.

Galatians 5:22-24
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

These are the principles we are to invoke daily but especially on the Sabbath.  Notice what I mean by looking at the following scripture.

Isaiah 58:13-14

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:

14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

God wants us to invoke His principles in an attitude of “giving".  Giving to others and giving to God.  Remember the verses about Christ healing on the Sabbath?  The Pharisees wanted to charge him with breaking the Sabbath, but Christ demonstrated that what He was doing was in the spirit of keeping the Sabbath holy.  What could be more holy than healing someone?

I gave a sermonette the other day showing that everything we do on the Sabbath from the time we get out of the car in the parking lot where the congregation meets to the time we drive back home comes under the heading of worship.  That means what we talk about, what we do, the breaking of bread after services and so on are all elements of worship.  All of this worship is a part of keeping the Sabbath holy.  Notice again Isaiah 58.  Not only does it state that we should turn from doing our own ways but to see the Sabbath as a delight…something full of joy.  The words "joy" and "holy" are the same word when it comes to keeping the Sabbath.

Is eating in a restaurant on the Sabbath doing business and/or forcing people to work on the Sabbath?  (This answer from Mr. Armstrong)

No.  They would be working anyway.  The Christian is not "making" anyone work.  The Commandment is not that we are to enforce God's Sabbath on the entire world -- God has never done that Himself – this question (argument) is put forth interminably by many, many people who believe they have found insurmountable obstacles to Sabbath-keeping (i.e., if you are in a heat wave, and your air conditioning unit is running, aren't you "making the electric company employees work?" or, If you use water aren't you...or, if you use natural gas, etc.,etc., ad nauseum) since we live in a world so dependent upon machines.  A "Sabbath day's journey" was measured by the distance one should WALK, not the distance one could drive in an air-conditioned car, listening to a sermon tape.  Long, long ago, we knew it was totally impractical for people to attempt to prepare three meals for the Sabbath prior to sunset Friday night, and then stop in a public park to eat or simply FAST (and many have come up with this 'requirement' also -- based upon 'thou shalt not light a fire!') on the Sabbath.  I don't have any manservants or maidservants 'within my gates', and a waiter, cook, bottle-washer, whatever, in a restaurant is hardly 'my servant' simply because I must have the energy to do an effective job on the Sabbath when I am not at home. Besides, God specifically omitted the "work required for the preparation of food" on the Feast days. –GTA

I would add here that if everyone were keeping the Sabbath, we would not have to worry about this question.  God has called the people He has to help spread the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He has not called them to force religion or doctrine on the people of the world.  As Christ was, we are sojourners on this planet.  A planet ruled by Satan.  There are many stories of brethren who, when eating in restaurants, have been beautiful examples of Jesus Christ and even moved people to change their lives.

This principle of God not calling the whole world to the Sabbath now applies  to all our questions about light, heat, nurses, doctors, using the phone or any situation where there are other people working on the Sabbath to make these things happen.  We are not aiding in their breaking the Sabbath. 

Having said that, there are also scriptures that speak to the belief of the individual.  This means that if you personally feel that you are uncomfortable eating in a restaurant on the Sabbath, then you should not do so.

 
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