The Lord's Day, How do we keep it Holy

The speaker discusses the importance of keeping the Sabbath day holy. They explain that the Sabbath is a day of rest and freedom from labor, as instituted by God. Jesus fulfilled the Sabbath for believers, but they are still called to keep it holy. Keeping the Sabbath involves adopting the right attitude and seeking God's face. It is a day for spiritual healing, repentance, and mourning over sin. Sabbath is not just limited to one day, but believers should strive to live a Sabbath life every day. The Sabbath is a time of rest from sin and a time to do good and help others. By observing the Sabbath, believers can experience spiritual comfort and satisfaction. Welcome to our weekly exhortation. Thank you for joining me. My name is Gila Miura, Servant of God, Servant of Jesus Christ. And the Lord says, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Our question today is, how do we keep the Sabbath day holy? The Word of God tells us that in six days, God created the heavens, the earth, and everything in it. On the seventh day, he rested from his work and called that day the Sabbath. Then, God called the children of Israel to honor the Sabbath by dedicating this day to him where they will rest from their work. God's intention in instituting the Sabbath is that his children may be freed from the burden of their labor. Unfortunately, instead of freedom, the Sabbath has become a burden for Israel. When Jesus came to earth, he fulfilled all the law for us, including the Sabbath, by keeping it. He held both the letter and the spirit of the Lord to perfection all his life. If Jesus fulfilled the Sabbath for us so that we would no longer be in bondage, how then do you keep it holy? To understand how to keep the Sabbath holy, we must know the attitude to adopt on the Sabbath day. First of all, we should know that sanctification for the believer is first and foremost about God's attitude. In fact, sanctification is that act which comes out of being forgiven and which shows that we have been affected by God's grace. Because after all, those who keep the Sabbath are those who have received the grace of salvation. In order to know how to keep the Lord's day holy, we have to know what to do exactly on that day. You know, Sabbath is about doing the ways of God without seeking our own pleasure. We do our possible with the help of the Holy Spirit to stay away from the lusts of the flesh. When we have such a disposition of hurt, there is no doubt that we are in close communion with God. In other words, Sabbath is the day we exalt God. In Isaiah chapter 2 verse 17, the prophet Isaiah says, And the lustiness of men shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. Praise the Lord. This was the state of mind in which the Apostle John was on the Greek island of Patmos on the Lord's day, the Lord's day being the first day of the week. Hallelujah. The Apostle John dedicated all of his time, his body, his soul and spirit to God. So it was at that time that Jesus instructed him to write on a scroll and send it to the seven churches of Revelation. In the book of Revelation chapter 1 verse 10, the Apostle John says, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day and heard behind me a great voice of a trumpet. The Lord's day is the other name of Sabbath, which is the first day of the week. It is clear that the Lord's day is the day believers should be in the Spirit. On the Lord's day, God's people should humble themselves and seek God either individually or in groups. Furthermore, the Lord's day is a day when the believer should work on the spiritual conditions. A day for them to afflict their soul before God, to lose the band of wickedness, to undo the heavy burden and break every yoke. Hallelujah. In 2 Chronicles chapter 7 verse 14, it is written, If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Pray the Lord. We can see that Sabbath is the day we should turn to God for spiritual healing. That is, we afflict our souls before God regarding our sins. Sabbath is the day our yoke is broken. We should know that breaking every yoke refers to sin. In fact, for God, Sabbath or the Lord's day is a bodily rest from any activity that leads us to sin. The will of God for his people is to see them put an end to the activities of sin. And you will understand why I say this. In the Beatitudes, Matthew chapter 5 verse 4, our Lord Jesus says, Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. What mourning is Jesus talking exactly about in this passage? Of course, Jesus is talking about mourning of repentance, of mourning about the consequence of sin. Notice, the verse in Matthew chapter 5 verse 4 is a shocking statement for the natural man because, again, you see the exact reverse of the world thinking. You know, the world regards nothing blessed about grieving or joyful about mourning. Normally, mourning is something to be avoided, isn't it? But this is not so with the Lord Jesus because, in Jesus' eyes, it is those who mourn who are blessed. So, Sabbath has to do with grieving over our sins and the consequences of sin. Even if we were saved from our sin, there is pain. We still go through pain. There is sorrow. There is despair. Hallelujah. For example, we see in Psalm 38 verse 3 to 4 where the psalmist David cried out to the Lord in repentance of his sin. There is a striking remark that the prophet Isaiah makes in Isaiah 58. In this chapter, the prophet is talking about true fasting every believer should go through. When you read from verse 1 to 12, the prophet Isaiah was describing the behavior of the believer during fasting. But all of a sudden, in verse 13, instead of talking about fasting, his description focuses on Sabbath. He says, if you turn your foot from breaking the Sabbath, from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord's holy day honorable, if you honor it by not going your own way or seeking your own pleasure or speaking either word, then you will delight yourself in the Lord. Hallelujah. What does this mean? This passage means that the description made of fasting can be applied to Sabbath. In fact, what we do while fasting is what Sabbath is about. That's why I said Sabbath is about restraining from sin since this passage is teaching us how to sanctify the Sabbath. Hallelujah. Let me tell you, friend, to enter into the Sabbath rest is to experience a new era where there will be no tension, no suffering, where sin will no longer have a place. This is the image of Sabbath. This is the promise of spiritual rest that we have in Jesus Christ. You know, God's rest comes with the disappearance of the torment caused by sin. We must therefore repent of our faults today in order to prepare ourselves for tomorrow when we will enter into the ultimate and perfect rest of life. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. At this point, please allow me to ask a question. If the believers are supposed to sanctify the Lord's day, what about the other days of the week? Does it mean that it is okay for the believer to do his own will and follow his own ways and do whatever he wants apart from the Lord's day? No. Let us understand that what we do at Sabbath is only a model of spiritual life that the Lord calls us to live every moment of our existence. Each day is a type of Sabbath for the believer. Whether at work, while traveling, in joy or in bitterness, we should seek the face of the Lord and exalt Him daily. We are not to sanctify the Lord's name only on the Sabbath but rather every day. For example, the Psalmist David invites us to seek the face of the Lord evermore. This means continually, not only one day in the week, continually every day. Hallelujah. Psalm 105 verse 4. Even though every day is not the Lord's day, we must live the Sabbath life every day. I will conclude this message by saying this. The Sabbath is a day of rest. The rest from sinful activities. It is a rest that frees us from the burden that weighs on us because of our faults. God's rest is the day when sin and suffering cease to exist. Like we read it in Matthew chapter 5 verse 4, Sabbath is about weeping with godly tears. Godly tears over sins. The Lord promises that after mourning, He will comfort us. He is referring to a spiritual comfort which the Bible speaks about in many places. Comfort has to do with salvation. In addition, Sabbath is the occasion for the children of God to do good around them, to share their bread with those who are hungry and help the needy without asylum to find a home. God promises that by doing good on the Sabbath day, then He shall guide us continually and satisfy our soul in dry places. Hallelujah. A dry place is a place where there is no life. And where there is no water, there is no life. Isaiah 58 verse 11. Pray the Lord. Well, this is the end of this message. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you for your time. If the Lord will, you will hear me next Sunday. God bless.