Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast"



Monday, November 2, 2009

MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY, & SUNDAY WORSHIP

Another weekend of classes completed. It was another good weekend of teaching and am preparing for the coming weekend. I am still in the process of teaching dispensations and just finished teaching about the tribulation and millennium. These things are eye-opening to the men as they have not been taught this systematically. I am now going back and teaching the Old Testament and the concept of law as contrasted with grace.

I am also starting a survey of the entire Old Testament but with emphasis on categorizing it to get an overview. Most survey courses don't really categorize the OT so it is understandable from an overall perspective. It is good they are beginning to understand the dispensations and realize they are not responsible for keeping OT law. Before, they were trying to keep the law of the Sabbath, give a their tithe, etc.

One of the young people asked about the Sabbath the other day so we spent some time going over the principle of rest.  I explained why today the church worships on Sunday. Anyway, it was good that they are asking questions which gives me the chance to explain.
 

It's been raining which is good as they are still rationing water but it doesn't affect me much as I have a big water tank. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday when I have water the tank fills up and I just use water from the tank for the rest of the week when I don't have city water. The only time I have a problem is if I try to do laundry or something on a day when I don't have water and use all the water in my tank. 


Speaking of which, Dennis and Dixon were both here yesterday. Dennis did my laundry and Dixon finished my lawn after school. Now Dixon has money for his school fees,  Dennis for his needs, my house and clothes are  clean,  and my lawn is cut. Life is good here in Nairobi and in the will of my Father.

Tonight when I got home the house was dark. My electricity was out again. This time it stayed out all night but it on today. That's the problem, you never know if it will come back on in 15 minutes or 15 hours. There was a full moon so I just sat in my backyard with Rafi and watched the moon and clouds. Stan





(Christian Apologetics Research Ministry) "Upon the completion of Creation God rested... on the seventh day. But, since God is all powerful, He doesn’t get tired. He doesn’t need to take a break and rest. So, why did does it say that He rested? The reason is simple: Mark 2:27 says, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." In other words, God established the Sabbath as a rest for His people, not because He needed a break, but because we are mortal and need a time of rest, a time to focus on God. 

In this, our spirits and bodies are both renewed. The Old Testament system of Law required keeping the Sabbath as part of the overall moral, legal, and sacrificial system
by which the Jewish people satisfied God’s requirements for behavior, government, and forgiveness of sins. 

The Sabbath was part of the Law in that sense. In order to "remain" in favor with God, you had to also keep the Sabbath. If it was not kept, then the person was in sin and would often be punished (Ezekiel 18:4; Rom. 6:23; Deut. 13:1-9; Num. 35:31; Lev. 20:2, etc.).

But with Jesus’ atonement, we are no longer required to keep the Law. We are not under Law, but grace (Rom. 6:14-15). The Sabbath is fulfilled in Jesus. He is our rest. We are not under obligation, by Law, to keep it and this goes for the Sabbath as well. It is not a requirement that we keep the Sabbath. If it were, then we would still be under the Law, but we are not.

I hope this is evidence enough to show you that the Bible does not require that we worship on Saturday or Sunday. If anything, we have the freedom (Rom. 14:1-12) to worship on the day that we believe we should. And, no one should judge us in regard to the day we keep. We are free in Christ, not under law (Rom. 6:14).  Today most churches around the world have their main service on Sunday because of tradition and the labor force,  work week.