We are in this world, physically, and that’s how God designed it. By going to a restaurant on the Sabbath, we are not creating employment. The people who serve us are there, by their own accord: they are happy to be working on the Sabbath. They will be working on that day, regardless of whether Sabbath keepers are there or not. We are in this world, but we are not part of this world. The following scriptures show us how to keep the Sabbath. It is up to us to obey God.

We must prepare for the Sabbath.

Exo 16:23  And he said to them, This is that which Jehovah has said, Tomorrow is the rest of the holy sabbath to Jehovah. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil. And that which remains over, lay up for you to be kept until the morning.

The Sabbath is a holy day.

Exo 20:8  Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 

No work is to be done.

Exo 20:10  But the seventh day is the Sabbath of Jehovah your God. You shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger within your gates.

It is God the Father who made the Sabbath holy.

Exo 20:11  For in six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore Jehovah blessed the Sabbath day, and sanctified it.

The Sabbath is perpetual.

Exo 31:16  Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 

It is the Sabbath of the Lord.

Lev 23:3  Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work. It is a sabbath to Jehovah in all your dwellings. 

We should give thanks and sing praises on the Sabbath.

Psa 92:1  A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day. It is good to give thanks to Jehovah, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; 

The Sabbath is part of the covenant.

Isa 56:6  Also the sons of the stranger, who join themselves to Jehovah to serve Him, and to love the name of Jehovah, to be His servants, everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and takes hold of My covenant; 

There are beautiful promises from God for correctly keeping the Sabbath.

Isa 58:13  If you turn your foot because of the Sabbath, from doing what you please on My holy days, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of Jehovah, honorable; and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words,
Isa 58:14  then you shall delight yourself in Jehovah; and I will cause you to ride on the high places of the earth, and feed yourself with the inheritance of Jacob your father. For the mouth of Jehovah has spoken.

All people will eventually keep the Sabbath.

Isa 66:23  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. 

There can be hypocrisy in Sabbath keeping; this is not of God.

Amo 8:5  Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? 

Christ is Lord of the Sabbath.

Mat 12:8  For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. 

There are times when working on the Sabbath should be done.

Mat 12:11  And he said to them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? 

We can do good on the Sabbath, even if work is required.

Mat 12:12  How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. 

Christ is lord of the Sabbath, which was made for man.

Mar 2:27  And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: 

Preaching is done on the Sabbath.

Act 13:42  And the Jews having gone out of the synagogue, the nations begged that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath.

Act 13:44  And on the coming sabbath day almost all the city came together to hear the Word of God. 

We must keep the Sabbath, regardless of what people think.

Col 2:16  Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 

Sometimes we can break the Sabbath by not working on that day. It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath, and that sometimes requires work. God is not mocked; He knows the intentions of our heart. God gives us the guidelines of Sabbath keeping in the bible. We all have a free choice as to whether or not we obey God.

God’s people will look forward to, and love the Sabbath day. A meal out or coffee is not causing work to be done by others; they are going to work on the Sabbath regardless. It is a pleasure to talk about the things of God, by those who love Gods way of life.

Putting on a Sabbath face for church, to appear righteous: might fool other church members, but it will not fool God. Our commitment to Gods Sabbath must be wholehearted and sincere; just as our commitment to Gods way of life must be wholehearted and sincere.

As one of the Ten Commandments: it is a requirement of eternal life that we correctly keep Gods Sabbath. 

Just as God spoke to the ancient Israelites, so today the same words are in force from the pages of the bible.

Exo 19:5  And now if you will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure to Me above all the nations; for all the earth is Mine. 

Look what God had in mind if Israel would have obeyed.

Exo 19:6  And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the sons of Israel. 

The Israelites said they would obey but soon forgot their own pledges.  Do we just discard the Sabbath command or do we desire to keep this special day holy to God and spend as much time as possible with God, in study, prayer,fellowship and meditation. 

Exo 19:8  And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD has spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD. 

The Israelites were scared to hear God talk to them, they wanted Moses to talk to them.

Exo 20:19  And they said to Moses, You speak with us, and we will hear. But let not God speak with us, lest we die. 

Notice the reason why God spoke to them with thunder so that they would fear Him and sin not.

Exo 20:20  And Moses said to the people, Do not fear, for God has come to test you, and so that His fear may be before your faces, so that you may not sin. 

Lets have the correct fear of God, and keep the sabbath day as He shows us how.

For those people who cannot attend church through distance or health, it would be advisable to spend as much time in study, prayer and meditation, as possible.  Remember we are never alone, God the Father and Christ are with us all the time, even though we may not be able to fellowship with many brethren our fellowship is with the Father and Christ.

Joh 1:3  All things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. 

It is also pleasing to God to sing praises to Him.  There are many pleasant hymns available to us today and this is uplifting and joyous for us on the Sabbath.

Col 3:16  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Psa 92:1  A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day. It is good to give thanks to Jehovah, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; Psa 92:2  to show forth Your loving-kindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night;
Psa 92:3  on the ten strings, and on the harp, with sounding music on the lyre.
Psa 92:4  For You, Jehovah, have made Me glad with Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands.
Psa 92:5  O Jehovah, how great are Your works; Your purposes are very deep.
Psa 92:6  A beastly man does not know; nor does a fool understand this.
Psa 92:7  When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity blossom, it is that they shall be destroyed forever;
Psa 92:8  but You, Jehovah, are high forever.
Psa 92:9  For, lo, Your enemies, O Jehovah; for lo, Your enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
Psa 92:10  But You shall lift up my horn as the wild ox; and I shall be anointed with fresh oil.
Psa 92:11  Also my eye shall see my desire on my enemies, and my ears shall hear the wicked who rise up against me.
Psa 92:12  The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Psa 92:13  Those that are planted in the house of Jehovah shall flourish in the courts of our God.
Psa 92:14  They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flowering;
Psa 92:15  to show that Jehovah is upright; He is my rock, and no unrighteousness is in Him.

Let us get closer to God and come to understand that the sabbath is a delight

Mar 2:27  And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: .