Ray Pishett, Doctor of Theology

When we learn that the biblical holy day of rest - it is the Sabbath, the seventh day, the natural
question arises: how do we keep the Sabbath? God wants us to be consecrated the Sabbath
day?

I want to tell you what happened to me a few years ago, when the seminary, I was working on
his doctoral dissertation. All of my professors were wonderful teachers, devout Christians. I
especially remember two professors who led the course, "Spirituality in the ministry" - Dallas
Willard and James Smith. It was the brilliant teachers, the likes of which I had never dropped
out after the meeting. I was struck not only by their high intellectual level, but also for their
amazing love and devotion to God. In their presence I felt as if I am near to Christ. What a
great combination - to be, on the one hand, an intelligent man, and the other - a deeply
spiritual!

During this course we have studied the spiritual truths of the Bible and learn to apply them in
practice. One day there was a wonderful situation where the lesson Dr. Willard addressed the
issue of solitude, meditation alone with God. And it is a condition called "Shabbat", "peace"
(Saturday). I'm all ears. My hand flew up and I said, "Yes, Dr. Willard, you're right, privacy
reminds Sabbath rest. But let's not forget the true Sabbath. " And in the audience, consisting
of the ministers of various denominations, I shared my testimony. Later, I thought about what
happened in class, and the thought came to me: "These professors are so fond of Christ. Why
did he reprove them is that they adhere to the Bible Sabbath? "Have you ever wondered about
it?

On Friday, the course has ended. On the same day I was heading down the hall to the dining
room. Walking down the hall dorm, I heard someone calling me and stopped. Who is calling
me? It was James Smith, my professor. He asked, "Ray, you have a minute?" "Of course," - I
replied. Then he looked at me, and I will never forget what he said: "Ray, for the past two
years, the Lord convicts me of the need to observe the biblical Sabbath." I have goose bumps
on the skin. He has gotten my attention. Then he asked, "Ray, as in your home observe the
Sabbath?" He wanted to know how to observe the seventh day holy.

Within half an hour I taught him a Bible study, sharing how the family Pishett keep the
Sabbath. It was very exciting. He said, "Ray, could you please spell it for me, touching the
principles of how holy the Sabbath day?"

I did not sleep all night, thinking about the principles of respect for the Sabbath. When I came
home, he immersed himself in the study of the Word of God, trying to highlight the essence of
the Sabbath. It's amazing what I discovered in the course of the study. I just opened the four
principles of the Sabbath. I want to share with you these vital principles that help us to be
faithful in the observance of the Sabbath.

What do you think, why did I pay attention to the principles, and I do not give a list of what to
do and what not to do on Saturday? The fact that such bans and lists document may vary
depending on the age and culture.

People observe the Sabbath in three main ways: the liberal, legalistic and right!
Legalism is focused on a list of prohibitions and instructions: "Do not do this, do that ..."
Those who are trying to keep the Sabbath without a clear understanding of the principles
underlying its compliance, turn this day into an oppressive burden.

Liberalism is not focused on anything specific. If you do not stick to any of the principles and
values that belong to the observance of the Sabbath liberal, believing that this or that matter,
then after a while, there is nothing left! People who have rejected any limitation on the
Sabbath, apparently doomed to a loss of the most Saturdays!

I want to share with you the principles of the Word of God, which, I am sure, are universal
and applicable to all people and ages.

The right way to keep the Sabbath is focused on the principles. The key to such compliance -
harmony, proportionality! How happy is Saturday, when she hallowed right, as God had in
mind!

The Israelis have never observed this day correctly. Prior to the Babylonian captivity, they
treated the Sabbath is very liberal, did not try to observe and to do God's command (Jeremiah
17:22,27; Amos 8:5). They were driven workaholism, passion for work, trying to earn money.
God sent prophets to them with warnings, but they ignored them. God had to punish them,
"put in a corner" for 70 years. Later, after serving a sentence laid in captivity, they decided
never to repeat old mistakes. But instead of keeping the Sabbath correctly, they went to the
other extreme - have begun to comply with its legalistic. "In the end, the Jews developed a
1521 interpretation of the rules relating to the observance of the Sabbath" (Knight,
"Matthew", page 136.). We want to avoid this, do not you? When we are guided by the
principles, rather than a list of rules, it will be much better.

The Bible never gives a list of what we need and what not to do on a Saturday! We should not
only pay attention to this fact, but also to follow the biblical example. But the Bible gives us
some principles that we need to find and follow them! Why? I think it is because God wants
us to think, reflect, talked about our relationship with him, approached them meaningfully. He
says, "Come and let us reason together."

I worry about that now God causes his people out of Babylon. He wants us to come to Him
and accept Him Saturday. A wonderful verse in John 10:14-16. God calls his people from
different churches and denominations. I'm sure soon to Seventh Day Adventist Church will
join not only thousands, but millions of people. Are we willing to take them and show them
how to really keep the Sabbath holy? If they ask: "How to observe the Sabbath in your
house?" Than you will be able to share with them? I hope that you will be able to share with
them the principles.

Saturday - this is a special weekly meeting of God with His people. He wants us to take the
initiative, creativity and responsibility to ensure that developing a personal relationship with
Him! What he definitely did not want to - it's that we become mindless robots that operate on
the mortgaged program!

How do I find and define the principles of the Sabbath? After reviewing all the scriptures that
relate to the Sabbath, and having carefully studied the way Jesus Christ kept the Sabbath, I
found four basic principles of compliance.
1. PRINCIPLE OF WORSHIP: Why should we worship God on the Sabbath?

How do we keep the Sabbath holy? First of all, we worship God on the Sabbath day. The Ten
Commandments are placed in two places: Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15. There
are reasons, reasons leading to the observance of the Sabbath. In Exodus 20, the first reason
given: because Saturday - this is a memorial of Creation. The second reason for the worship
of God on Saturday, mentioned in the book of Deuteronomy in the 5 because the Sabbath is
also a monument of Atonement! We keep the Sabbath holy, because God created us and has
freed us and.

Saturday gives us a special opportunity to remember the Creator and Redeemer, and spend
time praising God for what He has given us the earth and eternal life! We gather together for
collective worship, to inspire, to comfort each other and together to worship God.

Activities that are associated with enjoying nature and the fact that we share with others
the joy of salvation, always acceptable and appropriate to the Sabbath day!

A. What was Jesus' example? "He came (Jesus) to Nazareth, where he was brought up, and
entered, as was his custom, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read"
(Luke 4:16). If it's been a tradition of Jesus, for Christians (ie, followers of Christ), it should
become our tradition! We should follow the example of Jesus and worship on Saturday do our
compliance with the principle of His holy day!

B. Christians should worship God every day. But Saturday - a special day of worship. Let me
illustrate this point. Every day I tell my wife that I love her. But there are special days, such
as, for her birthday or our wedding anniversary, when I arranged for her big celebration. My
daily love for her leads to the fact that in the special days of celebration these feelings become
even brighter! On Saturday, there is something similar.

We worship God every day. I hope that you are family worship. When we worship God every
day, then that strengthens our relationship with Him. And, developing a deep relationship
with Christ during the week, and then when we get together on Saturday, everything becomes
much more enjoyable and special. Then we experience the depth of this relationship clearer,
brighter and more tolerable.

There is such a thing - synergy. If one man can lift 100 pounds and the other can lift as much,
how much they can raise together? 200 kilograms and sometimes 220! Because two people
together can do more together than separately. Such it is with worship. In corporate worship
in the congregation of believers on Saturday as a synergy. Collective worship is of particular
strength through individual worship in everyday life. What is the advantage we have in this
collective worship in the congregation of saints!

When we learn to true worship, then we are taking the first step towards ensuring that
Saturday was the joy!

II. PRINCIPLE OF PARTNERSHIP: The Essence of Christianity - is a relationship with

Christ! This is not a set of rules and prohibitions!
A. Any quality relationships take time to develop them! More than any other day of the week,
Saturday gives us time to go through a biblical Christian fellowship or close friendship, which
the Bible describes as absolutely necessary to achieve maturity in Christ.

B. Saturday - this is a special time that is designed to build a relationship with God, with your
family and friends! God knew human nature, with its tendency toward workaholism, so that
He separated the day for rest and recovery, aiming for the benefit of man, his family and the
society! If God did not delinked one day a week, then the person would work without rest. We
have a lot of friends unbelievers who are too busy and that virtually no rest. A man obsessed
with the activity, in order to do something! But we do not just "doers", we - the personality!
You can truly become individuals, making a break in the day, and devote this day to the
vertical level of the development of relations with God, and at the horizontal level -
developing relationships with family and friends.

An important question regarding the partnership and observance of the Sabbath, "Does this
activity is maximum opportunity for the individual to share their joys, anxieties, needs and
difficulties of the Christian way?"

Please take a look at Saturday as the time for giving us the opportunity to develop our
relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ, our Creator and Redeemer.

When we come from a practical point of view to what we deal with on a Saturday, then
applying this principle, we must, first of all, ask yourself, "Does this activity development of
my friendship with the Lord? Do this by increasing my love for Him? "When we ask," Is this
good or what to do on the Sabbath? ", We need to ask the question:" Would the intervention,
this activity will develop our relationship with the Lord? "On Saturday, I do not watch TV,
because it does not contribute to the development of our relations.

Second, we need to ask ourselves another question: "Does this activity the development of our
relations with other Christians in a church with my spouse and children?" Remember a time
when you have met her future husband. The worst date that you can imagine - it sit half a day
watching television. After all, we do not communicate with each other, it does not develop
our relationship!

III. PRINCIPLE OF REST: Reconstruction, Recovery!

God is so wise, so insightful, so well know the man. He knows that we need a change of pace
of life. This is the essence of what the Bible means by the word "rest." One of the most
important functions of the true observance of the Sabbath is to ensure that we are
experiencing a change of mental, physical, social and spiritual life rhythm. This change
rejuvenates the human mind, body and spirit, and thus provides a weekly harmonization and
the stabilizing effect that best promotes human health and happiness.

A. SACRED TIME: Genesis 2:2-3 1.

When Scripture says that God "rested" on the seventh day, that does not mean that he lay
down to rest in the afternoon. The Hebrew word translated "rested" actually means
"recovery", "change of pace", "stop normal activities." Thus, when we talk about the rest, we
refer to "recovery."
Need to make a conscious effort to make Saturday a special day of the week, which is as
different from the rest. For example, on Saturday I wear special clothing. My best leather
shoes I wear only on Saturday. This is my Saturday shoes! Even my feet know that today is
Saturday. I also take the Saturday special cologne. I smell differently on this special day.
Even my nose knows when Saturday. I put on the best costume on Saturday, because it's - a
special day! I want to look and feel better!

All we have to test on Saturday a complete change of pace. This day is set aside, he has a
special place in the busy schedule of life, which most of them share for the week. Character
(nature) of the tempo change varies depending on the individual characteristics of the person,
just as different types of activities that we carry on working days. Some Saturday may be
badly needed physical rest. If you are physically worked hard all week, then on Saturday you
better do something else. At the same time, other people sitting all day at a desk, may feel the
need to perform on Saturday some physical activity, for example, go on a guided tour, ride a
bike, or do they prefer other forms of exercise. So on Saturday we need a change, you need a
rest, we need to restore. This is very important: the rest is not meant to sit around in his chair.
The body is designed for activity. If you need a motion exercises - follow them! Is not that
what makes life so beautiful? Monotony, constantly the same engenders boredom. The
changes bring to life interest. But even these activities can be greatly enriched if they
combined with meaningful fellowship with believers, or the worship of God, filled with
reflections on his nature. Please note that what is good for one person is not good for the
other. Therefore wrong to make a list of prohibitions and instructions on what to do or not do
on the Sabbath. Such lists do not apply to everyone. But the principles - applicable. So, we
rest, we rest in God's grace. We need a complete change of pace of life.

We are closed on this day, we do not work for a living!

The notion that on Saturday we need to stop and rest, we find in the Word of God in the Old
Testament. You need to stop to earn a living, make a break for one day. Start living! That's
what we need Saturday to live! We enjoy the blessings bestowed by God.

Many Adventists stumble on misunderstood the text of Isaiah 58:13: "If thou turn away thy
foot from the sabbath doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight ..."
The Hebrew word translated as "whim", in other embodiments, translated as "fun." Properly
understand this: do not get any pleasure on Saturday? Does this make sense? How can we call
this day joy, to love him if he does not bring any pleasure? Some of us think that if the
medicine tastes bad, it means that it is good. Because of this incorrect translation of many
Adventists feel that if an activity on Saturday pleasant and enjoyable, then it must be wrong!
How sad! If that were the case, then how could we be honest, calling the Sabbath a delight?

There is a very simple explanation. The word translated in the King James version as a
"whim", should properly be translated as "business" or "business." Now this verse gets a real
sense! This translation fits the context better. The problem with the Jews was that they liked
to do business, business. So, this place should read as follows: "If thou turn away thy foot
from the Sabbath performance of your business or affairs on My holy day, and call the
Sabbath a delight ... then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord."

First - time frame Saturday. Secondly - it is anticipation, expectation, anticipation.

Timeframe Saturday:

Liberals ignore them. For them it does not matter when the sun goes down. The lawyers
observe the Sabbath by minute, second by second! When approaching sunset, they say, "Get
ready, Saturday is over, there were 5 seconds, 4, 3, 2, 1! Turn on the TV! "This - legalism.

However, those who observe the Sabbath properly, so enjoy the day of the Lord, that they try
to spend the day as long as possible, hold on to it as long as possible and not obsessed with
the minutes and hours. They understand that the Sabbath like a queen. If you are being
bestowed the Queen's house, then you are that it will expel exactly on the hour, as soon as the
sun goes down? Or will you try to keep it a little longer to enjoy her presence?

B. STANDBY anticipation: Friday called the day of preparation (Exodus 16, and collect
mana). To truly enjoy the Sabbath should be made considerable preparation the day before.
How to date! The most important for us travelers are well planned. When you are getting
ready for an important rendezvous, what are you doing? You are preparing: buying flowers,
candy, cards, choose the best clothes. And when you meet, you are happy. Because you put
your creativity to this date! You planned, you are ready! You provide your girlfriend or
boyfriend is an opportunity to feel special. By contrast, imagine a different story: you turn up
in T-shirt and flip-flops, and the question: "What are we going to do today?", Saying: "I do
not know. Maybe it'll go take a walk. " This date may be nice, too, but it will not be anything
special. So the question is: "How hard we prepare for the Sabbath?" If you want a Saturday
was a delight, then it should be ready.

On Saturday, must be filed against the best dishes and desserts! Special meals shared with
friends and family, adds a special Sabbath distinctive aroma and taste! Need to make a
conscious effort to become a special Saturday that it was different from any other day of the
week. The more you plan and invest in the day, the more you will make out of it!

I would like to offer you a pragmatic (practical) test to check how we keep the Sabbath. It's
like a litmus test for determining the quality of your Saturday. Ask your child what their
favorite day of the week? If it's not Saturday, and another day of the week, so you keep it
right! Our children need to be looking forward to attack every Saturday! If you are prepared
for the Sabbath, made her delight, the kids will love it! They do not need to go to school, do
their homework. It depends on you to make it special for them.

IV. MINISTRY PRINCIPLE: Mark. 2:27-28, Matt. 12:9-14, Luke. 13:10-17, John 9:13-16.

When we are dealing with the principle of service, it seems that the Adventists, like Christians
in general, have lost sight of that view with regard to the Sabbath, which gave Jesus the
Christ. If I want to find out how best to sanctify the seventh day, the best understanding of
this I find in Christ himself. After all, He is its Lord. If anyone should know how to observe it,
it must be he!

In the verses that describe the observance of the holy day of Jesus, there were conflicting
views about the Sabbath. And the principle of serving the troubled Jewish religious leaders.
When He healed someone, someone served, helped, what did they do? They criticized him.
But Jesus gave us an example of how to truly keep the Sabbath - to serve people in need.
Observance of the Sabbath Jesus, recorded in the Scriptures, was aimed at meeting the needs
of the people. Jesus spent many hours of Saturday, responding to the needs of the people,
regardless of whether wore their needs urgent, emergency or not. Not all the events of Jesus'
ministry to people on Saturday were caused by extreme necessity. In many cases, we could
have waited, when Saturday is over. But Jesus could not bear to endure kind of suffering
people. The scope of the proper observance of the Sabbath is serving and helping others. He
demonstrated that one of the greatest goals Saturday - benefit, to help those who need help.
And he is so strongly felt that in order to emphasize this point, he has subjected himself to all
kinds of condemnation and persecution.

And we do not always feel themselves comfortable with this principle. We need to
overestimate our attitude and our practice of keeping the Sabbath. Because our example -
Christ! We need to look at the Saturday open-minded look through the eyes of Jesus. This
means that when God's people aware of what it means to keep the Sabbath for real, it will
bring joy to the lives of people living alone and in need, following the principle of the
Sabbath service.

The particular form of service can vary considerably, for example, it is possible to visit
friends, patients, assist or offer something readily repaired or cleaned, doing all that is
required to meet the needs of the person.

Cleaning, repair, help in the garden or in the garden - such variants of the Sabbath in the
service may be shocking!

I want to share with you a story. A devout elderly woman was extremely sluggish and harsh
against the Sabbath. Her age did not allow her to cope with the physical work as vigorously as
before, and her yard and garden in need of care. One Saturday morning, when she went to
church, her dear neighbor, not an Adventist, decided in her absence trim the bushes and trees
and to clean up her yard. First, he did it because his neighbor needed help, and she was not
able to do that. Secondly, it was a friendly gesture, he helped her because I wanted to do
something nice for your neighbor. It is such a joy - to help people! He expected that she, too,
will be pleased that she will thank him for his help. But when she returned home after the
service, she was outraged and angry that he did. It condemned the neighbor for what he broke
Saturday and defiled the sanctity of her, and said, "Do not ever dare to do such a horrible
thing!"

Question: which of these two people really kept the spirit of the Sabbath as Jesus did? Let's be
honest: it was the neighbor. He gave the woman a courtesy unselfishly served her, showed her
care and love not in word but in deed. It was a real spirit of the Sabbath service.

The first time I preached it, my oldest daughter decided to test me. We came home after
church, had lunch, and then she looked at me and asked, "Dad, can I just bake cookies and
treat our neighbors?" And I had to answer, "Yes, dear, if you want it." Saturday - a day to
serve people who are in need. This is how Jesus spent most of His holy days of rest. Unless
you live in a sterile, artificial environment, you will be surrounded by a variety of human
needs.

God wants us to call the sabbath a delight. He created the Sabbath for man, not man for the
Sabbath. We need to re-think, re-check the way we keep holy the seventh day. We need to
make sure that it is the day when we do something that allows us to grow in Christ, coming to
the Lord and serving others.

How to observe the Sabbath in your home? Liberal? The legalistic? Or, by the grace of God,
right?

The devil seeks to divide us, pushing to extremes that dazzle us, making unable to grasp the
essence of true religion. Can we avoid the extremes of rigid legalism, on the one hand, and the
careless indulgence and permissiveness, on the other? The - in the orchestration, in a balanced
ratio!

If, instead, to be a day of kindness and service to family and humanity (ie, correctly
observed), Saturday has become a ritual for us and the restriction (ie, observed legalistic), or it
has become for us the day of self-centeredness and samopopustitelstva (ie respected liberal), it
means that we have deviated from the right path, that of the Sabbath that Jesus kept!

If you turn on the four principles of the Sabbath (worship, relaxation, fellowship and ministry)
in your life, you will find that the Sabbath - a real joy!

Saturday - one of the greatest gifts that our Creator and Redeemer gave to man. It is such a
blessing for us, for our families, for our neighbors and everyone else. If we keep the Sabbath
properly, our church does not have enough space to accommodate all the people who love
Christ and want to keep the Sabbath. Let us prayerfully examine how we keep the Sabbath.
Let's start to follow the principles of compliance: worship, relaxation, fellowship and
ministry.

And by the grace of God, we will truly keep it holy and sanctify yourselves under the
influence of this holy day and the day of the Lord.

***

Listen to this sermon in the original (English) in MP3 format here Principles how to keep the
Sabbath holy

or here

Ray Pishett, doctor of theology, senior pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in New
Market, Va., assistant to the president Potomac koferentsii Columbia Union Conference of the
North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists

Translation from English Tatyana Noel-Tsigulskoy © Copyright 2004

Tags: Controversial themes Adventist, Holy Day

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2 Responses to "The principles of respect for the Sabbath day holy"

Tatyana Noel-Tsigulskaya Says:
January 27th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Proposal for English language learners.

You can read the Russian translation of the text while listening to the original English version
- it will not only help you better understand the meaning of a message, feel the emotional side,
hearing the voice of the preacher, but also enrich your knowledge of American English.
American English is full of conversational turns that are not in dictionaries and textbooks. The
English text of the original Principles How to Keep the Sabbath Holy is on page
http://noelrt.com/?p=171
Apparently, some of you will have to open this second window.

Other materials on our website, always original English-language audio translated into
Russian:

Ready Or Not, Here I Come / http://noelrt.com/?p=202 - Translation of the Sermon on the

Russian language, see here: Ready or not - I am coming! - Http://noelrt.com//?p=117

Power to Speak: Gift of Tongues and Interpretation of Tongues / http://noelrt.com/?p=322 -

Russian translation, click here The Power of Speech (the gift of tongues and interpretation of
tongues) - http://noelrt.com/ ? p = 275

The Candle of the Lord / http://noelrt.com/?p=168 - on Russian lamp of the Lord - the spirit
of man - http://noelrt.com//?p=61

The soul under control - http://noelrt.com/?p=1255