Sabbath Sanctuary: Holy Saturday

Yesterday we remembered Christ and His crucifixion; His holy sacrifice for our filthiness and sin. Every sin I have committed, every idle word I have spoken was nailed to the cross yesterday.  

As Good Friday passes we look forward to Easter Sunday and celebrate the greatest event of all time—the Resurrection. Christ came out of the grave and defeated death, hell, and the grave. He tasted death for us and overcame it. He holds the keys to hell, it is a celebration indeed!

Somehow, Saturday seems to get lost in the holiday preparations. We return to the mundane— life as usual, preparing food, doing the laundry, preparing meals, preparing for worship on Sunday. But what about Saturday, the Sabbath day, the morning and evening—before Sunday. Scripture too, seems to quickly pass over Saturday. There seems to be a void after the horrific crucifixion scene the previous day, and the celebration of an empty grave on Sunday. Matthew grants a glimpse into some of the events on Saturday; the Pharisees before Pilate ensuring the grave is guarded, there will be no grave robbing this night!

Holy Saturday seems to be a time of waiting; a place where nothing significant occurs. “The crucifixion, deliberately timed to precede the Sabbath day (which in John’s chronology was the Passover itself), was naturally followed by a pause when nothing would happen, and certainly no visit to the tomb by Mary and the others to anoint the body” (Alan Lewis, p.3).  Saturday is just an ordinary day, with Jesus body seemingly lying in the cold hard tomb, leaving all creation to groan for Him.

Though Jesus’ body may be entombed and laying on that cold, hard, rock slab—there is much happening behind the scenes, taking place in the unseen heavens before His pierced, precious body is resurrected.

Jesus was not lying idle on Saturday, He was busy freeing the captives who died before His glorious appearing, when all of heaven kissed the earth. He was battling the devil and his minions. The prophet Hosea foretold the descent of Christ into Hell in Hosea 13:14: O death, I will be thy death; O hell, I will be thy bite. And so too, the prophet Zechariah 9:11: Thou also by the blood of Thy Testament hast sent forth Thy prisoners out of the pit.”  Peter penned in 1 Peter 3:19 In which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient.  Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:9 what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? Jesus defeated death, hell and the devil and mocked them openly; When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. Colossians 2:15.  

Sabbath Saturday seemed quiet; the dust settling from the events and commotion of the traumatic events of Good Friday, and a quiet hush seemed to hold the city captive. It looked like everything was dead. Everything the Disciples hoped for is gone—their dreams died and were buried with Jesus. They could not see all that Jesus was doing, He was overcoming hell so that He could ascend to take His place at the right hand of the Father. There were many things Christ had to do before He could present Himself, the perfect sacrifice, and sprinkle His blood on the Heavenly Mercy Seat.

So rest this Sabbath, and know that though everything seems dead, and your heart is broken from disappointment, broken dreams, and betrayal, that Christ is working behind the scenes to resurrect NEW LIFE. Sabbath Saturday is a time to rest, to regain your strength for the New Life Jesus is preparing for you right now! Rest this Sabbath Saturday—tomorrow is Resurrection and New Life!

Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you. Joshua 3:5

Alan E. Lewis, Between Cross & Resurrection: A Theology Of Holy Saturday (Grand Rapids: Eerdmens Publishing Company, 2001), 3.  

Sabbath Sanctuary: The Path

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’” John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Mark 1: 1-45

Walk by Faith

There will come a time and there will come a day

You will face tests and trials but I have come to say

I will not let one of you go even when you stumble

I will protect you and cause your enemy to fumble

Though things may get hard I give My grace to you

So you can walk by faith and know just what to do

You will not smell like smoke when you stand in My Name

Those who hear My Word through you won’t be the same

So even if you can’t see all the way in front of you

Walk by faith and not by sight do as I would do

 I will protect you and defend you when you do what is right

Take My grace and love with you and all of My power and might 

 Piper Green

©2004

In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. 

Proverbs 3:6

Rest in Him this Sabbath; He guides your every step...the steps of the righteous are ordered (see Psalm 37:23).

Great is Thy Faithfulness

God is faithful. He is faithful when we are not. He is faithful to provide His mercy to us when we need it. Like clockwork His mercies are new with the rising of the sun;

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

“How refreshing, then, how unspeakably blessed, to lift our eyes above this scene of ruin, and behold One who is faithful, faithful in all things, faithful at all times” (Pink, 1975, 52).

Know therefore that the Lord Thy God, He is God, the faithful God. Deut. 7:9

Prophecy:  

Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, and faithfulness the belt about His waist. (Is. 11:5) 

His descendants shall endure forever and his throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established forever like the moon, and the witness in the sky is faithful. Selah. (Psalm 89:36-37)

Fulfillment: 

Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass. (1 Thess. 5:24)

If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. (2 Tim. 2:13)

And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood. (Rev. 1:5)

Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.(Rev. 2:10)

And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. (Rev. 19:11)  

How faithful are you? I am the first to confess that I am checking my faithfulness level. Jesus said, “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8 NASB). Abiding in God is the surest way to remain faithful. 

When you depend on God, when He is your oxygen, when you can’t breathe without Him, when you reach the point that you know you will die without Him, you are abiding in God. He will strengthen you and be the wind beneath your wings. Trust in God, know that He holds you in His hand. Rest in Him.

“Are we resting with implicit assurance on these words, ‘He is faithful that promised’ (Heb. 10:23).” (Pink, 53).

In His Grace,

***UPDATE***

I just came from hearing an amazing woman speak at our church tonight. Cindi McMenamin is an amazing author and speaker. She read Psalm 139 tonight, and though not in the same context as my above post, I wanted to recite God's beautiful Psalm through His anointed Psalter; 

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. (Psalm 139: 7-12 NIV)

How beautiful is God’s faithfulness? You cannot run from Him; He will pursue you. When you try to turn away from Him; He will not give up or turn away. That is the measure of His faithfulness.

 

Hope: A Golden Cord

It has been rather warm as of late; seasonally warm for January. Freezing temperatures as a matter of course welcome the New Year, yet we are soaking up the sun’s rays as water unearthed in a dry, parched desert. 

The days are exhibiting the likes of spring. The sun came and warmed the earth; warmed my skin. Should you turn your ear toward creation, you would hear the stretching and wakening of the leaves that had gone to sleep for the winter; naively fooled into believing it was time to awake. A sole, puzzled honeybee buzzes my head.

I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please. Song of Songs 2:7 KJV

Suddenly, like an undesirable guest, the cold startles me back into the reality of winter. The season is unrelenting; it leaves a reminder with a blanket of fresh snow and bitter temperatures, evidenced in the vapor of my breath, it is not ready to leave.  A wind so bitter, it blankets my bones with a chill not easily remedied. 

 The warm days brighten and defrost the soul, but when the cold of winter rears its chilling head, it seems more brutal; a cruel aide-mémoire that the warmth will not last; winter taunting. The leaves that awoke curl back into their protective cocoons until spring arrives in a pageant of celebration. 

But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture. Malachi 4:2 NLT

So it is in our walk with God. It is inevitable that we will endure a winter season, so whatever needs to die, will die. The cold causes us to forget that the warmth of spring will bring fresh life. The winter taskmaster is cruel. We experience glorious moments with Him in the midst of the cold, dark winter and the warmth defrosts the immobilizing effects on our soul, but the reality of the present season rudely interrupts; we ache for the warmth again. The days of warmth offer a glimmer of hope that spring is on its way, and that winter will not endure forever. 

Hang on to hope. Hope is a golden cord to heaven. ~Sarah Young~

The hope that spring will arrive, enables us to endure winter; the seasons in our chronos are changing; the cycles of the earth are ever faithful in the hand of its Creator. It is preordained;   winter will blow its chilling frost to the other side of the globe, as the earth revolves in its orbit; awakening my hemisphere to the trumpeting of spring. 

While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease. Genesis 8:22 NASB

 

If only I felt the same inevitability of the seasons of my soul. I have lingered in this winter for so long…must I endure this cold and death another day? I do not yet feel the promise of spring; 

Blow, blow, thy winter wind…although thy breath be rude. ~Shakespeare

Oh, but the golden cord of hope glimmers bright. When the high priest entered into the holy of holies, a golden cord was fasten to his ankle. Should the high priest die while serving, the remaining priests were able to pull him out. 

God has fastened a gold cord to our ankle, to pull us out of the hopelessness of death and winter, and into the spring of new life. Though we can’t see or feel the change, and we linger in the season longer than we care to, He will interrupt the season of our soul, the chronos with His kairos; a divine interruption  I can only grab hold of by faith. Hold on to hope, hope is the golden cord to heaven.

For we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7

Don't you know that day dawns after night, showers displace drought, and spring and summer follow winter? Then have hope! Hope forever, for God will not fail you! ~Charles Spurgeon

In His Grace,