OT and New Testament Sabbath (6)

Monday, October 19, 2009

How, as the royal priesthood and chosen people of God do we work in the sanctuary? In following the example of Jesus Christ who came as the high priest in the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 6:20: where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek) let's understand how we should worship. In John 4:23-24 it reads, Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and truth. How do we worship? In Spirit and in truth! Where do we worship? At home? at the beach? In the temple! But how do we truly worhip in spirit and truth?The priesthood should follow the high priest no longer in the order of Aaron but in the order of the high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. The high priest is Jesus Christ! Let's see what example Jesus gave us. In Luke 4:16, it reads, He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. Here, Jesus Christ's custom was to go to the synagogue (church) on the Sabbath day. In verses17-18 "The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed.... Jesus Christ went to the synagogue every Sabbath as was his custom and read the scroll (scriptures) from the prophet Isaiah found in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, it was really hard to keep the Sabbath day and therefore was not perfect. However, when Jesus Christ fulfilled the law, his example is to worship in spirit and in truth every Sabbath at church while reading from the Bible. How much mercy does God have on us. Nowadays, not many people keep the Sabbath day because of wordly obligations. However, God allows us the opportunity to repent and worship correctly as the example Jesus Christ showed us 2000 years ago. Thank you God for your boundless mercy and grace.

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