Have a Blessed Sabbath … in Eternity

“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these [is] charity.”
1 Corinthians 13:13.

Every Sabbath we gather together after a week of hard work in order to celebrate the day of our Lord. What brings us to these meetings, to church service” A habit” Yes, the same habit Jesus had, as we read in Luke 4:16. “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read.” But this custom is based on something very important, namely on the three virtues we read before: faith, hope and love (in the original Greek version).

We come together because we believe in God’s grace and mercy and since we have accepted the unfathomable sacrifice done for us on Golgotha, we hope that our Lord is coming soon to take us before the throne of our Father to join our heavenly family as members of God”s kingdom. These, faith and hope fill our hearts with gratitude and love, and as we read, “the greatest is love”.

In 1 John 5:3, we read, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” Therefore, we express our love to God by keeping His commandments and the Sabbath is not only one of these, but it is the seal of God.

Once, the Pharisees came to Jesus and asked Him, “Master, which [is] the great commandment in the law” Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Matthew 22:36-39.

It is interesting that Jesus does not mention any of the Ten Commandments as written in the Decalogue, but seems to be speaking about a completely different thing. In other words, He says the same thing we read in 1 Corinthians: “The greatest of these is love.” But, it is the last part of His answer that makes it clear that He is actually speaking about God”s law which He presents as the expression of our love to Him and our neighbour: “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22:40.

In the Sermon of the Mount, He makes it very clear that He did not come to ban God”s law. “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Matthew 5:17, 18.

The Pharisees did not expect such an answer. What did they actually expect” Their question was, “Master, “which [is] the great commandment in the law?” and this question was asked by “one of them, [which was] a lawyer”, in order to tempt Him, as we read in verse 35.

We know that the Pharisees were liars and murderers and were always trying to catch Jesus at fault so as to accuse and condemn Him. Actually, they always found Him guilty of not keeping the Sabbath according to their prescriptions. Therefore, Jesus gave this answer and told them that it is love that counts; keeping the Sabbath without love is just hypocrisy.

If we look at the Ten Commandments in the light of eternity, we see that the only commandment that will actually remain forever is the Sabbath day. All the other ones will disappear, just like faith and hope because we shall be like angels and will have been sanctified to be able to stand in the presence of the Holy God. In a new heart there is no adultery, lying, murder, blasphemy etc. Nobody will enter the kingdom of heaven with an old stony heart like the one Jesus describes in Matthew 15:19, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies,” but with a heart that has been received as a gift and reward for faith.

In Isaiah 66:23, we read, “And it shall come to pass, [that] from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.” We can come to the conclusion that in the same way that today we practice faith, hope and love, but “love is the greatest” and will remain in eternity, so is the Sabbath, God’s seal and our visa to heaven at the time of the end.

Spiritually, the Sabbath is for the children of God who have the law written in their heart, the greatest demonstration of love toward their Creator because it is the conscientious and grateful acknowledgement that they are the handwork of an almighty, loving and merciful God and they depend completely on Him.

Isaiah writes, “I will mention the loving kindnesses of the Lord, [and] the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us, ” according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.” (Isaiah 63:7).

Let us do this every day, every Sabbath and we shall grow in faithfulness and love.

May the Lord help us to understand that keeping the Sabbath day holy is the utmost expression of our love toward Him.
Amen.

Teresa Corti