TREASURY OF SERMONS
1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003
From Sabbath Keeping that Sparkles to Sabbath
Keeping that Strangles
By Rev (Dr) Timothy Tow
Preached at Life BPC, 10.30 am service, 19 Aug 2001
Text: Matt 12:1-8
The Hebrew word Sabbath simply means Rest.
Sabbath is commanded in the IV Commandment to be kept on the 7th Day
(Saturday) in the O.T., and in the N.T. on the 1st Day (Sunday) or
the Lord’s Day. It is a happy day of rest from the hard work we put
in six days of the week. It extends to every one, to our domestic
helps and gardeners, even to animals such as bullocks pulling the
cart. Such rest from servile work which releases us to worship the
Lord (Heb 10:25) refreshes us. Such Sabbath keeping sparkles. Is
that not the blessing you receive each Lord’s Day as you come to
Church and rest your weary bodies and souls from work Sunday after
Sunday? (Sunday is rest from marketing or car washing and other
mundane jobs.)
Now Sabbath keeping in the O.T. extends from
Friday 6.00 pm to Saturday 6.00 pm. In our time it is not strictly
defined, but if we observe it from Saturday 6.00 pm to Sunday 6.00
pm, it is Biblical. Sabbath keeping is happily extolled in such a
favourite hymn as:
O day of rest and gladness
O day of joy and light
O balm of care and sadness
Most beautiful, most bright –
On Thee, the high and lowly
Thru ages joined in tune
Sing "Holy, Holy, Holy"
To the great God Triune.
What I have described of our Sabbath keeping is
in tune with what our Saviour did in His time and age.
But this was not what the Jews and Pharisees
meant by Sabbath keeping. Sabbath keeping is so strictly carried out
by Orthodox Jews today that you have to cook your food for the whole
Sabbath Day ahead of time. Since there was a Hebrew in Moses’ time
who was stoned for picking up firewood on the Sabbath, the Orthodox
Jews (like the Pharisees) today cannot switch on or off even the
electric light in their house. They install clock-switches to do the
job. (They misinterpret the sin of that Hebrew man. He was stoned
for his presumptuous sin not so much for breaking Sabbath, Num
15:30-31).
Sabbath keeping became so absurdly "correct" by
their calculation that Jesus could not heal (that was work) on the
Sabbath Day. Our Lord’s retort was if an animal had fallen into the
ditch on the Sabbath Day, would they not rescue it?
To come to the text of our message, Jesus and
His disciples were going through the cornfield on the Sabbath Day.
As the disciples were hungry they plucked the ears of corn to eat.
Luke 6 tells us that before they ate they rubbed the ears of corn in
their hands. That was work! Immediately, certain Pharisees on the
spot accused them to Jesus, "Behold, thy disciples do that which is
not lawful to do upon the sabbath day."
Jesus replied, "Have you not read what David did
when he and his followers were hungry? How he entered God’s house
and ate the shewbread only the priests could eat . . .? And do you
know here is one greater than the temple (meaning Himself, God’s
Son) who permits the disciples to eat?" That is to say there is the
higher law of human necessity that overrides the lower law of
Sabbath keeping. So, in Mark 2 it is recorded Jesus further stated,
"The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath." And the
highest law is Jesus Himself, Lord of the Sabbath.
We would point out here that our Lord allows
eating outside the house while on travel in His service on the
Sabbath Day.
Now if Jesus allows this why do certain Sabbath
keepers disallow any Christian from eating out on the Lord’s Day?
Again they say you break the IV Commandment. Suppose after preaching
at the 8.00 am Service at Life Church, I rush to keep a preaching
appointment at Air Bemban, Johor at 3.00 pm on the same Lord’s Day.
When I reach the J.B. bus terminal to catch the Johore bus to Air
Bemban it is 1.00 pm. To allay my hunger I pick up a sandwich and a
Coke to eat. Is that permissible? No, says this young people’s
group, period.
For that matter we have catering in Church. Most
of us, after Church, eat at the hawker stalls at Newton or
elsewhere. That is also condemned because, like the Pharisees, they
have ruled out any such thing. You must not cause others also to
sin, working on the Sabbath Day to serve you. You must eat at home.
To the great majority of Christians, in America
especially, we regard it as our Sabbath eating out. Our wives are
relieved from cooking. They who serve food are Gentiles who have no
Sabbath law to keep. It is an ideal situation for both. No, they
retort (like the Pharisees), you are breaking God’s law.
For that matter, there was a time (1950) when
Rev Quek and I were in Amsterdam on a Sunday. The city traffic was
at a standstill especially the trams. To go to church we had to walk
a mile or two. This same young people’s group have difficulty
themselves how to solve the problem of not using public transport.
To carry out to absurdity that you must not work
on the Lord’s Day they might have to restrict their wives from
giving birth on the Lord’s Day. Lovingly the husbands must whisper
to their wives, "Please, please, hold on until Monday!"
In the matter of Sabbath keeping they also
condemn young people who study for exams on the Lord’s Day. As
pastor and in the Spirit of our Lord, I would not sentence them.
Ordinarily, without final exams, I would not allow them. It is a
time like the disciples going through the cornfield and being hungry
they had to pluck the ears of corn to eat. They are in a similar
situation. But I say, let them attend Church and pray for strength
to go through the next day’s exams. Last minute preparation is
crucial and the Lord knows their needs.
For that matter, will not my young friends allow
me to work over my sermon Sunday morning before I go up the pulpit?
I usually write out my sermon on Saturday night. But I need to
review and go over thoroughly on Sunday morning. Most crucial is the
one hour before preaching. I hear some objections there. You have
the whole week to prepare. By Sunday morning you should observe the
Sabbath. Well, if I have a powerful memory, I might do that. But I
confess I need the last minute revision. Will the Lord bless me for
that? He has, that is my testimony. In the same way we must help our
sons and daughters. Let them all the more attend Church Sunday
morning and pray for success. After service, I judge they can study
to face Monday’s ordeal.
Sabbath keeping which sparkles in Life Church,
and condemned by that young people’s group, has become Sabbath
keeping that strangles. They are like the Pharisees that rigidly
keep to man’s regulations, but we have our merciful Lord who sees
those exceptional cases and permits us to tackle them with His
blessings. "For the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the
Sabbath." The higher law of human necessity overrides the lower law
of Sabbath keeping. May this sermon help to free those young people
misled into a Sabbath keeping that strangles.
Top|Back
Click here for Sermons by Rev (Dr) Jeffrey Khoo
Click here for Audio Sermons
|
