Gospel Principles Ch24 The Sabbath Day

8/8/2019 Gospel Principles Ch24 The Sabbath Day

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The Sabbath Day

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The Meaning of the Sabbath Day

•WhatistheSabbathday?

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8; see also

D&C 68:29)

The word Sabbath comes rom a Hebrew word meaning rest. Beore the Resurrection o Jesus Christ, the Sabbath day commemo-rated God’s day o rest ater He fnished the Creation It was a signo the covenant between God and His people We read in the booko Genesis that God created the heavens and the earth in six peri-ods o time, which He called days: “And on the seventh day God

ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventhday rom all his work which he had made And God blessed theseventh day, and sanctifed it” (Genesis 2:2–3) Now the Sabbathalso commemorates the Resurrection o Jesus Christ

The Sabbath day is every seventh day It is a holy day ordained byGod or us to rest rom our daily labors and worship Him

The Purpose of the Sabbath Day •HowwouldyouexplainthepurposeoftheSabbathdaytosome-onewhodoesnotknowabouttheSabbath?

Jesus taught that the Sabbath day was made or our beneft (seeMark 2:27) The purpose o the Sabbath is to give us a certain dayo the week on which to direct our thoughts and actions towardGod It is not a day merely to rest rom work It is a sacred day to

be spent in worship and reverence As we rest rom our usual dailyactivities, our minds are reed to ponder spiritual matters On thisday we should renew our covenants with the Lord and eed oursouls on the things o the Spirit



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•ThinkaboutwhatyoucandotokeepthepurposeoftheSabbathin mind as you prepare or the day each week

History of the Sabbath

The seventh day was consecrated by God as a Sabbath in thebeginning o the earth (see Genesis 2:2–3) Since earliest times, thetradition o a sacred seventh day has been preserved among vari-ous peoples o the earth God renewed a commandment concern-ing this day to the Israelites, saying, “Remember the sabbath day,to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8) Keeping the Sabbath day was also

a sign that the Israelites were His covenant people (see Exodus31:12–13, 16; Isaiah 56:1–8; Jeremiah 17:19–27)

However, some Jewish leaders made many unnecessary rules aboutthe Sabbath They decided how ar people could walk, what kindo knots they could tie, and so orth When certain Jewish leaderscriticized Jesus Christ or healing sick people on the Sabbath, Jesusreminded them that the Sabbath was made or the beneft o man

The Nephites also observed the Sabbath day according to the com-mandments o God (see Jarom 1:5)

In modern times the Lord has repeated His commandment that weshould remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy (see D&C 68:29)

The Lord’s Day

•WhywastheSabbathchangedfromtheseventhdaytotherstday?

Until His Resurrection, Jesus Christ and His disciples honored theseventh day as the Sabbath Ater His Resurrection, Sunday was heldsacred as the Lord’s day in remembrance o His Resurrection on thatday (see Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2) From that time on, His ol-lowers observed the frst day o the week as their Sabbath In bothcases there were six days o labor and one or rest and devotion

The Lord has given us a direct commandment in these days that

we too should honor Sunday, the Lord’s day, as our Sabbath (seeD&C 59:12)



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•HowcantheremembranceoftheResurrectioninuenceourwor-shipontheSabbath?

Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy

•WhatdoesitmeantokeeptheSabbathdayholy?

The Lord asks us, frst, to sanctiy the Sabbath day In a revelationgiven to Joseph Smith in 1831, the Lord commanded the Saints to goto the house o prayer and oer up their sacraments, rest rom theirlabors, and pay their devotions to the Most High (see D&C 59:9–12)

Second, He asks us to rest rom daily work This means we shouldperorm no labor that would keep us rom giving our ull attentionto spiritual matters The Lord told the Israelites, “Thou shalt not doany work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, northy maidservant, nor thy cattle” (Exodus 20:10) Our prophets havetold us that we should not shop, hunt, fsh, attend sports events, orparticipate in similar activities on that day

President Spencer W Kimball cautioned, however, that i we

merely lounge about doing nothing on the Sabbath, we are notkeeping the day holy The Sabbath calls or constructive thoughtsand acts (See Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W.

Kimball [2006], 170)

What kinds o things may wedoontheSabbath?TheprophetIsa -iah suggested that we should turn away rom doing our own plea-sure and should “call the sabbath a delight, the holy o the Lord,

honourable” (Isaiah 58:13) We should consider righteous things we can do on the Sabbath Forexample, we can keep the Sabbath day holy by attending Churchmeetings; reading the scriptures and the words o our Churchleaders; visiting the sick, the aged, and our loved ones; listening toupliting music and singing hymns; praying to our Heavenly Father

with praise and thanksgiving; perorming Church service; preparing

amily history records and personal histories; telling aith-promotingstories and bearing our testimony to amily members and sharing

For teachers: You can help class members or family members think more deeply abouta question by giving them time to ponder. After they have had enough time, ask for theirresponses.



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spiritual experiences with them; writing letters to missionaries andloved ones; asting with a purpose; and sharing time with childrenand others in the home

In deciding what other activities we could properly engage in on theSabbath,wecouldaskourselves:Willitupliftandinspireme?DoesitshowrespectfortheLord?DoesitdirectmythoughtstoHim?

There may be times when we are required to work on the Sabbath We should avoid this whenever possible, but when it is absolutelynecessary, we should still maintain the spirit o Sabbath worship inour hearts as much as possible

•Thinkaboutsomethingyoucandotoimproveinyoureffortstokeep the Sabbath day holy I you are a parent or grandparent,think about something you can do to help your children or grand-children understand the meaning o the Sabbath

Blessings for Observing the Sabbath

•WhataresomeblessingswereceivewhenwekeeptheSabbath

dayholy?

I we honor the Sabbath day, we may receive great spiritual andtemporal blessings The Lord has said that i we keep the Sabbathday with thanksgiving and cheerul hearts, we will be ull o joy Hehas promised:

“The ulness o the earth is yours, whether or ood or or rai-ment, or or houses, or or barns, or or orchards, or or gardens, or

or vineyards;

“Yea, all things which come o the earth, in the season thereo, aremade or the beneft and the use o man, both to please the eye andto gladden the heart;

“Yea, or ood and or raiment, or taste and or smell, to strengthenthe body and to enliven the soul” (D&C 59:16–19)



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Additional Scriptures

•Exodus31:16–17(theSabbathisaperpetualcovenantbetweenthe Lord and His people)

•Mosiah13:16–19;18:23;Exodus35:1–3;Leviticus26:2–4,6,12(observe the Sabbath as a holy day)

•Luke6:1–11(lawfultodogoodontheSabbath)

•Luke13:11–17;John5:1–18( Jesus’sexampleofdoinggoodonthe Sabbath)

Gospel Principles Ch24 The Sabbath Day

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