The meaning of sabbath

S. SEKOU ABODUNRIN

There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
Heb 4.9-11

We understand from God’s word that there is a rest that is available in this age to the people of God. We realise that one could be of the people of God and yet not enter into this rest. There are many Christians that are ignorant of the rest of God and how the believer enters into it.

In context every Israelite that entered the promised land of Canaan did not enter into God’s rest. The prophecy that God communicated through David hundreds of years after Israel entered Canaan shows that Canaan itself was not that rest that God had in mind.

The ministry of Joshua took them into the Promised Land, but it could not deliver them into the rest of God. This is made available to man only in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The rest that we are to enter into is not that of man, but of God himself. When one enters into the rest of God he ceases from his labour just like God ceased from his own labour.

And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath. Mark 2. 27-28

The concept of rest is that of Sabbath. We are told that the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. Even though many believed that there was absolutely no work on the sabbath, the truth is that the priests of the Old Testament were commanded to do temple work every Sabbath and in doing that work they were celebrating the true Sabbath. Jesus was greater than the temple in which the service was rendered and the priests that served in the temple.

The secret is that the Sabbath is not the celebration of a day or the observance of a day but the acknowledgement of the person of Christ. Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath and he is the fulfilment of all that the Sabbath points to. Man was not made for Sabbath nor is he to worship its observance. The Sabbath is a provision from God to bring rest to man. This, God has fulfilled lavishly in Christ.

We know what the rest that we are to enter into is like because we are told that it is exactly like the rest by which God ceased from his own labours in Genesis.

Why did God rest?

We are told that it is because God had ceased from all his works.

This is another way of saying that God had carried out his creative acts in a complete way. It was so complete that nothing was required to be done in addition to that which he had already done.

We usually link rest with tiredness, but we have to realise that unlike his creation God did not rest because he was tired. The rest God has is not because of tiredness but that he ceased from his labours. His labours refer to his act of creation. He rested because he had created.

How does God create?

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. Gen 1:11 -12

Watch closely the nature or the type of labour that God ceased from.

God creates with words. His words are exact and deliberate. We are given insight into how he created herbs. God did not say "Let there be herbs". God said "Let there be herb yielding seed after his kind". God created herbs to carry seed within itself so that the seed become the next herb. This is simple but profound.

This is significant. God does not keep creating herbs. Through his words God puts seeds in fruits, which are capable of reproducing the trees that become the herbs which carry the seed that keep reproducing in a continuous cycle. This is what God saw as good. He does not keep creating. He creates things complete.

God creates in such a way as to give the creation the power to continue the process that started in genesis 1.

This would mean that God has created herbs only once. You see, God doesn’t scratch his head wondering how the next herb will sprout. He has created the first herb complete. He has created it so complete that his direct intervention is not required for maintenance of his creation.

This is the type of creation that warranted God resting. The first Sabbath was therefore a bold testimony of God’s completeness in that which he had spoken into existence. This is what we are called to enter into. We are to enter into rest. Rest is the consciousness that what God has done is so complete that God doesnt need to do anything again in regards to what he has done.

By the time Adam was created every tree needed for his food already existed. There was a sun to drive evaporation and cooling of water. This was before Adam opened his eyes. Firstly then we see the provision and then we see man’s need for it. The lesson of the first Sabbath therefore is that the solution is much older than the challenge that we face. This is rest as God rests.

So you need something from God? The truth is that God has ceased from his labours. This would mean that it is not so much of God rushing back to the drawing board to conjure up an answer, it is a thing of knowing that the way God operates is to create his things in complete ways. That which is needed is already provided and what is needed is resting in what God has done.

...to be continued.

Emmanuel

S. SEKOU ABODUNRIN

That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: Acts 17:27

5. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
7. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8. If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. Psalm 139: 5 – 8

Paul states a bible fact in Acts 17 – God is not far from us but Man needs to perceive him. Pause and think about that – God is not far from you!

David in psalm 139 admits the profound fact that God was on every side of him. He also admits that the hand of the Lord was upon him in blessing. The knowledge of this revolutionised his thinking. He did not see God as an enemy who was standing against him, but as a friend who had taken it upon himself to encompass David with his very presence.

The knowledge that David spoke about was two fold. Firstly it was a fresh knowledge of himself. He had come to know himself in the light of a man continually encompassed with God's presence and glory. Everything around him contradicted this truth. This was a knowledge higher than his experience but given to him through the revelation of God. Secondarily it was a knowledge of the Lord not as an adversary or foe but as a friend, consort and companion. This type of knowledge should characterise the believer.

David admits a mighty fact – The presence of God is everywhere the same. This is true of heaven as well as of hell itself. David had not ascended to heaven, yet he knew that the presence of God was a reality there. The only way he'd have come to know this was by the revelation of God in his word. This is easy to admit. What the religious man fails to see is that David admits that even in hell the presence of God is a reality. In simple terms there is no such thing as the absence of God anywhere in the universe for he is everywhere and he is everywhere the same. He is not more present in heaven than he is in hell.

This is wonderful knowledge. When folks are unconscious of this bible fact, they speak of “inviting” God into where they are. This is superstitious. Rather than try to invite him though, we can humbly rest in the knowledge that he is already present. There is no place where God is not. The universe is his.

I love the humility of David. He knew a fact that many of us shy away from – We are the ones that try to run away from his presence and not he from ours. He said “Where shall I run from your presence ..”. A religious mind will not admit this. The religious mind will accuse God of deserting him, when in reality God does not desert man but it is men that desert God.

If you have read this far, you know deep within if this is a reality you live in or some theological truth that you profess. The religious mind will affirm the omnipresence of God and in the same breath say that “God left me”. In reality we are the ones that do the leaving. You must learn to affirm to yourself the abiding presence of God.

In the bible, the picture given of heaven is that of a place where God is acknowledged. You cannot escape this fact as you read through the revelation of John. In hell there is gnashing of teeth. It is easy to think God is absent from hell and present only in heaven, but the truth is that God is present but his presence does not produce freedom until it is acknowledged and embraced in one's consciousness. Hell is the federal headquarters of complaints, heaven is the practice of praise. In reality then, heaven is the way it is because God is continually praised there.

22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; Acts 17:22, 28a

It is noteworthy that the people of Athens disagreed strongly with Paul. They would have maintained that they were religious and they were, but Paul would have called it by the proper name – idolatry. Since they were wholly given to idolatry he resorted to freeing their minds by dismantling their religious reasonings with the revelation of God. The people of Athens did not deny the existence of God. The trouble was that he was unknown to them. When men desire God but mistake zeal for knowledge superstition is born inevitably. Their worship betrayed their ignorance. All religious men are superstitious men.

The superstitious bias is manifested differently in different situations, but nevertheless it is not rooted in truth. There is only one way to rid oneself of superstition and that is by receiving and walking in the knowledge of God. When Paul went to the top of Mars hill he went into the presence of intense superstition. These were learned men but Paul admits that their knowledge is sustained by superstition. What Paul said was aimed at dealing out a death blow to superstition.

The understanding of the resurrection of Jesus is the answer to superstitious thinking.

A religious mind today would not go up such a hill for it supposes that demons and the devil actually own portions of the earth. Paul admitted no such thing for in agreement with all bible people he knew that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. Until you learn to live in the light of the truth of God's presence you will find yourself walking gingerly and fearfully in the presence of such spiritual nonsense. Paul diagnosed that the problem was the superstitions of men. It wasn't that the demons or the deities that the people worshipped were powerful.

What we know as demonic power is really the power of superstition. The answer to superstition is the deliverance that comes from the proclamation and affirmation of truth especially the truth of the resurrection of Jesus. Only the revelation of God can separate men from superstition. You can use the name of Jesus to command demons to leave, but you cannot command superstition to go away. The demons will flee at the use of the name of Jesus, but will return because they find a resting place in the superstitions of men. Superstitions are more stubborn than demons.

The most stubborn superstition is religious in nature. It is possible to worship out of a superstitious mind. It has all the trappings of worship but is very far from the real thing for it is based on ignorance of the true knowledge of God – this knowledge is the meaning and import of the resurrection of Jesus. When one is unaware of this he is superstitious in all things.

15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.
16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 2 cor 3:15 – 17

Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. The question then is “are there some places where the spirit of the Lord is not? The truth is that the Spirit of the Lord is everywhere. What remains for man is the knowledge of this. When this is not known, ignorance veils the heart.

When my heart is not properly adjusted to Christ Jesus I am deluded into thinking that he is not present. When this happens, the religious mind, which is also a veiled mind, believes that the Lord is absent or that he Lord has left. The Lord does not come and go, it is our hearts that get veiled by ignorance or unveiled by focusing on the Lord. If I am word-conscious, the word focuses my heart on the Lord until the awareness of God envelops me.

Paul uses the term "Moses" prior to verse 14 to refer to the Old Testament prophet Moses but from verse 14 onwards it refers not to the man, but to the Old Testament. The term "Moses" was a portable way or a shorthand for the Old Testament. The religious mind reads "Moses" without a proper understanding of the resurrection of Christ Jesus and he will be able to “prove” from "Moses" his superstitions. This is because his heart is veiled by superstitious reasoning devoid of a resurrection consciousness. The trouble is not with "Moses" but with the veiled heart. The heart then is either turned towards or away from the Lord. When the heart is turned towards the Lord an unveiling takes place and man is able to acknowledge the presence of God.

The presence of God therefore is an unveiled heart.

A veiled heart cannot walk in the truth of God even though it is deeply religious. This is because man is designed such that whatever you are conscious of will inevitably dominate your awareness, get larger in your world and become more real to you. It seems so real that God is not present when in reality he is present. Religion robs me of fellowship with God when he is so near. God is everywhere. When I feel like he is absent I have proof that my heart is not horizoned by Christ Jesus and so it is veiled. I do not cry for him to come, I cry for my heart to ascend into a fresh comprehension of the living God.

18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God Ephesians 3: 18,19

The apostle Paul does not tell us what it is that we are to comprehend the breadth, length, depth and height of. In context I will say that it is the subject matter of the mystery that was hidden in God which God revealed through Paul for the edification of the church. Whatever it is, he is not asking that God do something again, but that the saints press into a greater comprehension in all dimensions of being. The fulness of God is Christ Jesus. When he says that we should be filled with the fulness of God he is saying we should be filled with a Christ-consciousness. This is the atmosphere of God.

The christian is not one whose sole purpose is to go to heaven, but one who is filled with the very fulness of God. According to scriptures, the key to living in this fulness of God is an awareness of God's love. Love opens you up to all that God is in you. When I feel a scarcity of his presence it is really symptomatic of a low estimation of love – the love of God. This love is not what you feel for others even though that is beautiful, nor is it what you feel towards God, but what God's heart is towards you. It is this love that holds your heart captive and delivers it into a new conception of God in all fulness.

... to be continued

Joseph & the first Christmas

S. SEKOU ABODUNRIN

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: Mt 1:18 - 24

There are many lessons to be learnt from the first Christmas. This time around we’d let Mary & baby Jesus rest and shift our focus to Joseph. I don’t know if there are many men in the history of the earth that would have been able to flow along with Mary as Joseph did.

For a minute, put yourself in Joseph’s shoes. Here is this young, holy, and beautiful lady that you have decided to marry. She walks up to you one afternoon with this strange “gospel” that goes something like – I am very much in love with you and gladly await our becoming man and wife its just that there is this great news I have for you. I am pregnant. The God of Abraham is responsible for this oh praises to Yahweh Adonai!

I can imagine Mary, typical woman; she has a lot to say and yearns to share it with her man with that wonderful degree of detail that is legendary with the woman. It is in her best interest to give as much detail as possible. The trouble is that the more details she gives the faster she’d prove her insanity. Joseph wanted the “child” to be a parable that refers to some great idea that Mary will bring forth. Mary assures him that a parabolic child does not make the tummy rise. She maintains that it is the handiwork of God.

Who had ever heard of such an event in human history?

Joseph, evidently asides being a just man, is also a thoughtful man. He is analytic, a man of intelligence. This is obvious because we are told, “he thought on these things”. I know of many men that in the same situation it would be said “he screamed on these things ..”. However no matter how thorough Joseph is in his intellectual adventure this is an area where the brain will not compute. Someone would hastily say that Joseph should have remembered Isaiah’s prophecy that a virgin shall be with child. That is so easy to say because you are not Joseph.

Mary was a wise woman. She tells the news to Joseph but does not try to convince him or railroad him into going along her way. She couldn’t afford to keep quiet for she was sporting a bump. If she doesn’t do the talking, her tummy would. She had to do some talking. That is common sense. You see, sometimes folks throw away common sense when it comes to spiritual matters. Imagine the folly of Mary refusing to say anything to Joseph. She would have allowed foolishness open a door that would have effectively shortened her life and jeopardized the first Christmas.

God has a way of getting the right parties to come to a place of conviction also.

It is clear that Joseph did not believe Mary – rare is the man that would. He had rejected her testimony. He did not accept or believe one word of what she said. We are told that he was “minded to put her away”. That is old English expressing the fact that he had already decided to part ways with her. He was strategising how to go about staging the break up. While it might not be obvious to us now, the truth of the matter was that Mary’s life was in jeopardy. If Joseph acts rashly Mary will have to explain how she got pregnant to the elders. If she goes down that route the whole thing could end up in death by stoning.

The way God leads in these matters is based on a concept of multiple witnesses. You see, if you are getting involved in something that involves other people’s cooperation and consent, God will not only get across to you, he will get across to the others too. For example, when an angel appears to Cornelius and says to go to Peter to hear the good news of salvation, God finds a way to get across to Peter also that there were men seeking him that he should go with [see Acts 10: 1 – 20]

Joseph’s analytic mind had shut out any possibility that Mary could be right. It is obvious that in his soul realm his whole being was full of noise. He kept thinking of how to spare Mary’s life by secretly releasing her. His mind was leading him down the wrong alley and quickly too. His powers of analysis had shut out God. In effect there was little room for God to get through to Joseph while Joseph’s mind was in full control. This greatly limits the avenues that are open.

You see, very often our minds are immersed in a sea of thoughts, worries, fears and anxieties during the day that the only times of rest we have are the times we sleep. It is a dangerous combination to be a champion at worrying and mix this with sleeplessness. Man’s constitution is not designed to function optimally in that scenario. If you do not manage your thought life properly and deprive yourself of good sleep no matter how spiritual you are when you start out, it doesn’t take long before you break down emotionally and end up a spiritual wreck.

Somehow in the midst of this storm Joseph managed to sleep! That is supremely commendable. We know that he slept because the bible says “Then Joseph being raised from sleep”. So Joseph did sleep. When we sleep we function a lot more in the subconscious, which is a much richer realm than the conscious. This is why sleep is good. When you sleep you allow the things that you have heard, experienced or become exposed to during the day become properly catalogued.

No human can afford to actively filter every single thing he hears during the course of the day. If you do that you will become emotionally wasted and drained. This is the problem that people whose thoughts wander all over the place face. Their mental energy is getting depleted quickly and this exposes them to exhaustion. There is a safety mechanism in sleep that helps restore us. You are sharper at discerning things.

Sometimes you find believers that are in a tough situation and are looking to receive directions from God. They persistently pray all night and all day for extended periods and still nothing happens. The direction they so sorely want to receive seems so far away. We need to learn to rest. Praying all night and all day to the extent that you deprive yourself of sleep is actually counter-productive! It promotes exhaustion and not creativity.

You will notice that one of the things that quickly deserts people when they are in dire circumstances is sleep. There is a reason. Confusion is amplified in our soul when we fail to rest.

We can glean some beautiful gems from this detailed story about Joseph and how the first Christmas came about and it is this – what did Joseph do before he went to sleep?

The last conscious thing that he did before drifting off into sleep was that he did some thinking. There is a strong correlation between the direction that Joseph received and the thoughts he had before going to sleep. As a minister I often counsel people who fill their thought-life with junk as the last thing they do before going to bed at night. They feed on spiritual junk. Sometimes it is even books that profess to be “Christian” but are full of gloom and doom and scary stuff. They stay full of this before drifting into sleep and then wonder why they end up with nightmares. Reading books that celebrate the occult, demonic activity and the likes before going to bed is the equivalent of playing Russian roulette with your inner well being.

The truth is that whatever we focus on, whether good or bad, gains dominance in our awareness. A Christian fellow unconsciously opens doors to the enemy by focusing all his attention on satan's activity, things that are evil and an evil report. I know of folks that all they do when they are in a tough situation is to focus on the times that they have missed it and times when they didn’t quite pick the leadings of God. They are full of a fear of not getting it right. This fear erodes their spiritual initiative and robs them of the leadings they so sorely need to receive. When you are actively involved in fear or have your mind set on certain things, that slant limits you from receiving direction from the Lord Jesus.

You must learn to come into a position to receive direction. Thats the key word "receive".

Hmm .. should I stop here? …. for additional tapes …. [we’d continue later]