Exodus 20 Bible Study (The Fourth Commandment) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

The book of Exodus chapter 20 beginning in verse eight. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male servant or your female servant or your livestock or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days, the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.

Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Let's pray together. Father, we come under the authority of this word, your word. And, Lord, tonight, you see the people that are in this house, and you see, Lord, the hunger and the desire to know you through your word. And so we ask that it may be delivered with clarity and with power and with no man to be seen or heard, but for the voice of God through the scriptures assisted by the Holy Spirit.

And, Lord, may we, each person in here, leave here transformed by the truths that we discover in this fourth commandment. Lord, may all confusion disappear. May all sense of apathy be ignited with a fire for God, and may we leave here with a greater desire to obey you in light of this commandment. We pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

You may be seated. Hosea four six, you don't have to turn there. I just want to say a few things. Hosea four six says that my people are destroyed because or for lack of knowledge. We all know that scripture.

Do we not? And Isaiah five thirteen says something very similar. It says, my people go into exile for lack of knowledge. I wanna say this, that there is a great price to pay when we do not acquire knowledge. There is a great price to pay for those who do not know the gospel, it's eternal.

For those who do know the gospel and are saved by this gospel, their lack of knowledge and the deep deeper things of God can cost them so much in their experience of the Christian walk. And lack of knowledge can cause this destruction in so many ways. And the reason why I bring that up is because I want us to really take our time with the fourth commandment here. There's a lot of arguments. There's a lot of ideas around the Sabbath.

And my desire tonight, and I hope that it's the same desire as yours, is to be as biblical as possible when it comes to the understanding of the Sabbath. Not tradition, not what you've heard and it sounded really good, not philosophical arguments. We want to get as close as possible to the scriptures as we can concerning the Sabbath. And by doing so, we will be able to know how we as believers relate to the Sabbath. But before we get to that, I want you tonight to imagine yourself as

an

Israelite. I want you for a second, not in the sense of anything else, but just imagining what these commands would sound to you under the Mosaic Covenant thousands of years before our time. Because we're gonna look at the Sabbath concerning what it meant to the Israelite, and we're gonna see God's wisdom and goodness in light of that. And then we're gonna pull back and say, okay. Well, what does that have to do with me as a believer?

What does this commandment have to do with my daily walk with Christ? And so for this moment, for this first segment, you are an Israelite. You are at Mount Sinai. You are hearing these commandments, and you're gonna hear a lot tonight turn to this scripture. I want us to saturate ourselves with the Bible so that we can get a clear understanding once again of what this commandment means.

Okay? Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son, and he keeps going about who is not to keep it or who is to keep it rather. And then verse 11 goes into another reason why they are to keep the Sabbath.

But let's now dissect this commandment. Let's take our time to see what's being said here. I wanna open up by saying this, when you hear Sabbath, what's the first thing that comes to mind?

Rest. Rest.

Anything else? Saturday. Saturday. Okay. Anything else?

Rest and Saturday. Those are pretty good pretty good links to what the Sabbath is. What we have to understand here that the Sabbath is is is a word that's derived from a Hebrew root word that means to rest or to cease from work. To rest or to cease from any ordinary work. So when you hear Sabbath day, what should come to mind is it's a twenty four hour period in which one does not labor and one ceases to do any activity.

Any activity, especially that would require you to exert energy. It's as simple as that. But he says here that this day is to be set holy. The Sabbath day is to be holy. And when we understand the word holy, we are called to be holy.

What does that mean? We're called to be set apart. We're supposed to be distinct. And so when we say here and when God's saying here is that the Sabbath must be holy, it's that it's supposed to be set apart from every other day of the week. Don't let this day blend in with the rest of the week.

This is something that you were to see in a different way. This is something that you were to practice in a different way. You're not to live this day the same way as the other days of the week. So that's it. We know what the Sabbath is, But now we have to understand what the command is for his people.

And for us in the immediate sense is keep the Sabbath. But it's detailed. Look what he says. What's the first word? He says remember.

Remember. Remember the Sabbath day. Now why would he say remember? I wanna challenge somebody here who's been with us in this Exodus series. When is the first time we are introduced to this idea of the Sabbath?

Genesis. Genesis is something that God's gonna point back to. But specifically, when is the Sabbath mentioned concerning relationship with the people and God?

The feast days.

Which ones?

The feast of unleavened bread and

It's okay. It's probably in something that you wouldn't necessarily let your mind go to. Do you guys remember when we spoke about the bread of heaven? Manna, Exodus sixteen twenty three. Exodus chapter 16 is where we see the Sabbath being introduced.

That they were to gather extra manna the day before the Sabbath, and they were not to gather on the Sabbath day. And so he's saying, hey. Look back. Remember. I've mentioned this before, but now I'm about to set it in stone literally and permanently in a way.

And so he's saying remember, but he's also saying remember in the future sense. Don't forget this day. Remember that this is an appointment. You've been told probably in your life by a parent or by somebody that says, remember this day. Don't forget this day.

Don't don't let it just casually blend in. No. No. No. Remember this day and and and look forward to this day and realize that it's gonna come on a weekly basis.

So remember the past. I've mentioned it. This is important to me. I'm gonna make it very clear, and don't forget it in the future. Remember the Sabbath day, and then he says what?

Six days you shall labor and do all your work. Okay. That's important. So the Sabbath is a is a day in which one is supposed to rest and cease from labor. They're supposed to remember that day, but it's not a command given as a license for one to be lazy or to have this negligent attitude or careless attitude towards work.

No. This commandment, it's given on the foundation that one is working six days out of the week with much energy and much focus. And so he's he's saying this to say, hey, listen. You're gonna rest on this day, but I want you on the rest of the week to really work hard, to labor. And in fact, I want you to work in such a way where you organize how you are effective in your work based on the Sabbath in mind.

So you do whatever you need to do, but when it comes to the Sabbath, you're resting. So he's advocating work, He's not advocating laziness. That's important as well. And then he goes on. He says, on it, you shall not do any work.

So now he clarifies what the Sabbath day is about. You shall not do any work. And then he names a group of people. He says, you or your son or your daughter, and then okay. So we understand that.

Nobody in your immediate family is working. That's the first group here. No, no, nobody. Your household is not working. Nobody's laboring.

Nobody's doing anything. K? But just in case, because we're so smart as humans. Right? We love to find loopholes and commands.

So we go, okay. Well, he said me, but he didn't say my male servants. So I'll make my male servant work. So he goes, just in case you're gonna think that, your male servants, they're not working either. Don't put them on shift.

Your male servant or your female servant, and then we're we're really smart. Right? Okay. Fine. No humans.

So we'll get the animals to go to work. He goes, no. Your livestock's not working either. No work. Nobody's doing anything.

Don't try to find a loophole here. It's rest time. And so what is what is work though? How do we categorize work? Up to this point, the only thing that we're really left with is Exodus 16.

There's this idea of gathering. It's going out and and and and bringing something into the house or or or making something happen. Or later on, we see that it it even involves business transactions. And it gets to the point where it's so minute where it's where it says, don't even kindle a fire. I don't want you to cook.

I don't want you to pick up sticks. I don't want you to do anything. So so we understand the Sabbath is. And up to this point, it's not very attractive probably. Because it sounds like time out.

It sounds like just stay home and and don't do anything. We're gonna realize that the Sabbath is a very beautiful thing in a moment. But in the natural sense, up to this point, we go, okay. So what do I do? Don't work?

And we see later on in detail where it seems to don't even lift up something almost. So what am I supposed to do on the Sabbath? Does anybody know?

It says in scripture, it says Sabbath to the Lord. Mhmm. So we're serving him in a way. Even though we're not serving ourselves, we're not doing any labor, we're giving it onto him. We're doing some sort of sacrifice or labor it before him.

Right. So it is to Lord. Remember remember, this is gonna help so much. What are the four first four commandments have to do with? Our relationship to God.

Our relationship to God. And the last six have to do with our horizontal relationships. This commitment has to do with our relationship with God. So if I don't work, what do I do? Verse 11.

For in six days, the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested. Rested on the seventh day. What do you do in the Sabbath? You rest. You rest.

Well, come to the end of the Bible study. We're done and move forward. What does rest mean even? There are a lot of there are a lot of questions when it comes to this verse because God is telling us that he rested. So God has a relationship with this Sabbath day.

And so let's explore God's relationship with the Sabbath. Four in six days, the Lord made heaven and earth. I want us to understand how God created the earth for a moment. I believe in a literal six day creation when it comes to the Genesis account. Many people would argue otherwise, and maybe you're in this room, and that's fine.

I mean, this is not a hill that I will die on. But I will tell you this, and part of the argument is, well, when you look at the Hebrew word yom, it can mean different things. It can mean a greater length of time. But this scripture here clarifies that God meant 24 period days. Why?

Because he's going back to the Genesis account to show how they are to imitate the model that he presented. The same way I worked six days, twenty four hour periods. And if you look at Genesis one, it says evening and morning. So it can't be this great length of thousands of years each day, I don't think. He says the same way I did that, I'm I'm calling you to imitate it.

And so I believe in a literal sixth day. And listen, he could have done it in thousands of years. He could have done it where it it spanned out in this evolutionary mindset. And he also could have done it by a snap of a finger. Do you think he needed six days to create everything?

He could have went like this and everything was created. No. He chose six days for a purpose. He did it in that length of time for what? To model to us how we are to embrace work in our lives.

And so we see here that he created in six days. And it says here that he rested on the seventh day. That he rested on the seventh day. So the six days he worked. Now here's a question.

How did God work in the six days? Spoke. Spoke. Go to Genesis one. What do you see?

Let's turn there for a moment.

Look at verse three. And God said, let there be light. Verse six. And God said, let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters. In verse nine.

And God said. In verse 11. God said. In verse 14. God said.

In verse 20. God said. Verse 24, and God said. Verse 26, and God said.

Here is six days being presented. Now we come to the seventh day in Genesis chapter two. Thus, the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them. And on the seventh day, God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it, God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

So we know how God worked. He spoke things into existence. So how do we know that God rested? Where's the proof that God actually rested? He finished his work?

Yes. And it says that. And guess what it doesn't say? It doesn't say that he spoke on the seventh day. Do you see that?

When he speaks about the seventh day, there is no recording of God speaking. It was narrated what he did on the seventh day, and there's no quotation marks. He is modeling how to rest by he himself showing, I didn't speak on the seventh day. I only spoke in the first six days. And here we see on the seventh day, there's no voice.

There's no voice. He practices what he preaches, so to speak. And here's something important too. We don't see this structure of morning and evening as we do with the other first six days. And I think that's significant because it is a foreshadowing of something.

That God's rest, there is no end to it. Do you understand? There's no structure of evening and morning. And I believe there's something profound there for for us to understand. That God is trying to say something that my rest, my rest, I wanna let you know that my rest is eternal.

And we're gonna see that later on as the covenants of God unfold. So we see God rested. And we gotta explore this idea of God resting because we know that he is so powerful. But when we look at Exodus 31, it tells us even something else about how God rested. Ready for this?

Turn your bibles to Exodus 31. Exodus 31 verse 17. Don't you love the sound of Bible pages flipping over? Oh, man. Praise God.

It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested. Not only rested, and was refreshed. Now if you know who God is concerning his nature, this seems to be contradictory. How is he so powerful? How can he speak things into existence?

Yet, it is telling us here in this very verse that he rested. Not only that he rest, but it seems like the result of his rest was that he was refreshed. Let's talk about that. What does that mean? Because what it kind of means to us at the surface level is that after six days of work, God took a nap in heaven and woke up.

And he felt like he received more strength than he did before he took that rest. Is that the nature of God? How do we reconcile this with Isaiah 40? We know this 28. Have you not known?

Have you not heard that the Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth? He does not faint or grow weary. Or Psalms, what, one twenty one verse three. He will not let your foot be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber.

So he he doesn't faint. He doesn't grow weary. He doesn't slumber. He doesn't fall asleep on duty. But it tells us in Exodus 31 that he rested and that he was refreshed.

How do we make that link? Anybody have an idea?

I just looked up the Greek word for the word refresh, and it's one of the meanings is to take a breath. It's almost like he's about to speak again or about to do something again. So it's like kicking in again, preparing for something that's coming.

Okay. So he he's kind of preparing himself to do more work? Okay. How do we reconcile rest and refreshed with the nature and character of God?

His nature is to speak.

Sure. I

mean, his whole word, and he just Jesus is described as the word. Mhmm. So his nature is to communicate, to speak. So I would I think

Okay. So it's not necessarily him relaxing, but it's him preparing to speak again?

K. Yeah. I think it's a refresh, I think, in a sense, would mean, focal point. Like, his focus changed from the creation of the, the heaven and the earth and everything in it. Went from that.

Well, now here's another the next task.

Okay. So you're saying the same thing. He our brother here is saying the same thing that he he saw creation. He finished it. Now he's about to prepare himself for the next task at hand.

These are these are beautiful points. And I think it does a service to understand what the word rest can mean and what the word refreshed can mean. And these explanations will help us understand how we can how we can say these things of God. Number one, rest, especially in its original meaning, does not mean to take a break. It doesn't necessarily mean that.

It can mean that. But really, when we understand the Sabbath, the Sabbath does not even necessarily take a rest in the sense of, hey. Just sit down and stop working so that you can get your energy back. It's stop working. Just cease from working.

Just stop. Don't do anything anymore. And so when we're talking about God and we're understanding how he rested, it's not that he he was he was he was exhausted and he needed to step back and sit on his throne. No. He just stopped working.

He ceased to create. And in the same way, when we're talking about how he was refreshed, it's not that he needed to regain his strength again because he exerted so much energy. It speaks of his reaction, now pay attention, his own reaction to the very thing that he created. It speaks of his pleasure and his satisfaction of the very thing that he created and called very good. It's as though God stood back to savor and to celebrate and to enjoy the very work of his hands or voice.

So it's almost this pleasure that he sensed when we're talking about being refreshed. It's something in his heart that rejoiced over what he called to be very good. He celebrated the process. It's good. It's good.

And at the end, the climactic expression of his creation, he goes, it's very good. And he ceased to work. And in the posture of rest, he could, by ceasing to work, observe his creation himself and be refreshed. So So it's not talking about him. Once again, getting a pillow and laying down and just saying, okay, I gotta just take a break before I move on to the next assignment.

That's not what it's saying here. It's speaking of a posture that he took upon himself. And what is that posture? Resting on the seventh day in order to reflect upon His work, upon the result of His work, and to delight in it. So He rested on the seventh day.

He ceased to work so that He could reflect upon His work and delight in the result of his work. Rest, reflect upon the result. That's what God did, which is something so important. Why is that important? It's important for you and me concerning this commandment.

If that's what it means to rest on the Sabbath day, what does that mean the Sabbath is for us? Remember, we're Israelites.

It's not like just the days to kinda like forget everything that you've done and everything that you will do. It's kind of just a time to look back on what you've done throughout the week and as God did, reflect on what you've done essentially.

So part of it is stepping back from work to reflect upon what's been done throughout the week. Sure. I believe it's even deeper than that. So it's not only us stopping to work so that we we can we can reflect on what we've produced. It's stepping back as God's people to reflect and meditate upon what God has done and what God has created and who he is as creator in our lives.

God is inviting us on the Sabbath, my fellow Israelites, to come into the place in which we reflect upon how he is the source of all things. He's the source of all things. And look, when we come back to Exodus 20, what does he say? He says here at the last part of the commandment, therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. He blessed the Sabbath day.

Now when something or someone is blessed, what does that mean? Partly what it can mean is that when someone is blessed, they, as a result, become a blessing to others. Do you remember Abraham? When he says that I will make you a blessing? So that what?

You will bless others. Through your seed, you're gonna bless the nations. So because Abraham was blessed, he was now a source of blessing. And what God has done with the Sabbath is that he blessed it. He appointed it to be blessed.

And by making it blessed, this day would be a source of blessing to those who would keep it and to those who would observe it, to those that would step into the reality of the Sabbath and to obey the standards. They would now be recipients of what God has appointed from Genesis that it would be a blessing to those who would observe it. Does that make sense? He blessed the day so that those who would cheat the day would be blessed themselves. That's important.

Because this commandment, once again, is not God just saying take a time out because I did it. Remember his commandments have a purpose. And God has a commandment here and there is a significant purpose. Does anybody have an idea of why we have to keep the Sabbath? You mentioned that's to reflect upon what we've done.

And I believe the first reason is, as we just read in verse 11, the first reason is to reflect in the Sabbath, is to reflect upon God being the source of all things. God being the source of all things. Meaning what? That this day specifically was to understand that God on this day rested and created all things. That all the things that I'm doing throughout my week, all the work, all the food that I'm gathering for my family, all the fields that I own, all the animals that are my possession, all of these things in the end come from God.

He is the source of all these things. He created these things originally. He's the mastermind behind it. He's the one that gives the resources. He's the one that made all these things taste good.

He's the one that made all these things possible for me to enjoy. Do you see? It's being invited to realize that God himself is the mastermind behind the very things that we are involved with every single day. How quickly isn't that isn't that true? How quickly we can get so accustomed and used to our day to day that we fail to recognize God in it.

How how do we how do we fail? Even going to the grocery store and you see vegetables and all its colors and all the fruit. And do does God come to mind? Does God come to mind when you're working? Let's say if you're working in a field especially and you're digging the toil and the the the soil and you're and you're you're working with whatever.

I know it's different in their context especially because we're in the city. It's kinda harder for us to understand this. But for country folk to see all these things, they God's saying, I want you to stop so that you can realize that all of this is me. All of this is from me. All this is my creativity and my wisdom, and you're enjoying this, and you're experiencing this because of me.

And that day was to be kept as a in a sense in them to remember that God from the beginning instituted that. God from the beginning made all these things that I am involved with a reality. This is not just happenstance. So we can get, once again, so just part of the routine that we forget to see God in it. We can eat our meals and fail to see God in it.

That he's the one who created the seed and he's the one who created these animals. The flavor that's involved with it. All those things we can fail to see in worship, fail to worship him for it. And here's the danger when we think that we can just go go go go go go go. Because listen, people don't necessarily work because they enjoy it.

You can enjoy your work, but a lot of people are motivated by what? Acquiring wealth, being prosperous, meeting the needs. We we have things to pay for. And the danger of going going going going, especially in our society and failing to stop and reflect upon God and how he's the source of even your job itself is this, Deuteronomy eight. Deuteronomy eight verse 17.

Look what the Lord says to his people. Beware, lest you say in your heart my look. He's talking to his people. Beware that you say in your heart, my power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth. You shall remember the Lord your God.

Well, how do you remember the Lord your God? Partly by keeping the Sabbath and reflecting upon the Lord your God. You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the power to get wealth that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers as it is this day. So the people of Israel were about to enter into a land in which they were gonna be very prosperous. That was part of the covenant.

If they walked in obedience, they would be very prosperous. And God says, I'm I'm scared for you because you can get to a point in your life where you think that you've done this apart from me, that it was your wisdom, that it was your strength, that it was your strategy when you don't realize that even the power for you to put on your shoes every morning is based on my power in and through you. We think it's the power of the Holy Spirit in us to what? Have victory over sin, to reflect Jesus. Listen, it's the power of God for you to even put on your shirt in the morning.

The breath of every living thing is in the hand of God. The fact that you can breathe right now and you're not falling to the ground suffocating is because of the power of God. He upholds the universe in his power. And all he needs to do is say the word and we all can be destroyed in the blink of an eye. Behold your God.

And if you fail to keep the Sabbath, you will fail to realize that and pride can creep in real quick. And you begin to see yourself. You begin to perceive God in a way that he does not deserve to be seen, and you begin to perceive yourself in a faulty way. It's dangerous to not stop and reflect. It's not only that though.

Here's the second purpose for the Sabbath. It's found in the book of Exodus as well. Verse 13 of chapter 31. So go to 31 and see verse 13. Look what the Lord says.

You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, above all, you shall keep my Sabbaths. For this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. Sanctify you. So now we see something else here. We see here that God is saying, I want you to keep the Sabbath.

I want you to walk into that day of rest so that you would reflect upon the fact that I am the Lord that sanctifies you. In other words, when we're talking about sanctification, what are we talking about? To be set apart. To be sanctified is to be made holy and to be holy is to be set apart. And what he's saying here is I want you to take that day so that you can remember who you are because of me.

I want you to take this day so that you can remember, hey. Your identity is not in what you do. It's in who you are. I want you to remember that though in your busyness and all the bills you need to pay and all the the the mouths you need to feed and all of that, I want you to stop once a week to realize that your purpose is even greater than that. That you are to be a holy nation and a kingdom of priests and you are my treasured possession.

It's beyond what you do. It's beyond how effective you are in your work and how popular you are because of your business. Ho. Listen. It's more than that.

You are my possession. You are a light to the rest of the nations. Is that not true for believers? Do we not need that as well? How often we can slip into a false sense of identity?

How often do we find our pleasure in what we do even in ministry? This is for ministers too. They get so caught up in the things that you're doing. And even for the Lord that you fail to realize who you are because of him, that he's the one that sanctified you, which is in link to the third purpose of the Sabbath and keeping it, and it's found in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy five fifteen.

Look what look what he says in light of the Sabbath. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. So what is that speaking of? So, yeah, remember that God is the source of all things.

Remember that God sanctified you, and maybe that comes after this in this this sense of order. But remember that God is not only creator, God is redeemer, and he redeemed you. How easy do we forget that? Where we came from, what God delivered us from, what our lives were before Christ. How often that we get so blinded by the things that this world demands, that our sense of of understanding the goodness and the grace of God can be buried under all those things.

And what the Sabbath does is bring us into that realignment of knowing that who God is and who I am again in him. And so we we see something here about the Sabbath. Do we not? It's less to do with me taking a break so that I can do and have more energy for another week's worth of work. That's part of it.

God wants us to rest. K? But it's more to do with posturing myself in such a way that I reflect only to rejoice in God. I rest so that I can reflect. And as I reflect because I've ceased to work, I can rejoice in who God is and who I am in him.

Keep the Sabbath. Keep the Sabbath. And when they were to fail to do this, all these dangers can creep in. And remember, this is the fourth the first four commandments that deal with our relationship with God. The Sabbath was commanded in order to enrich one's relationship with the living God.

So we see that all these misconceptions about the Sabbath, about being this thing in which God lets out these spiritual lasers, and if you just step over that laser, he'll strike you with lightning. That's not what the Sabbath is. It's a command in which God asks you to posture yourself in a way you would reflect upon his goodness and therefore rejoice, putting everything in the right perspective, not elevating the gifts above the giver, not seeing yourself as the source of strength for what you even do on a day to day basis. And that you would even just pause and be reminded that all these things come from him, and it would cause you to rejoice in him. And so it's about enriching.

It's about him saying, I want you to see me and not forget to see me for who I am. I don't want you to see your prosperity as the reason why you live. I don't want you to see your work habits as something that you've kind of created on your own. I am the creator of all things. Even your own idea that you thought you invented, I I'm the one that gave you that idea.

Don't think that that's you. Don't boast in yourself. And the moment you think you you are gonna boast, take a Sabbath and just be reminded of who I am. Do we see that it's for our good, fellow Israelites? That's for our good.

So keep the Sabbath. But we're not Israelites. Maybe you are in here. Welcome. But the majority of the people in here are not Israelites.

So the question is, the ultimate question, the debated question, the question that might get me stoned tonight, what does the Sabbath have to do with the new covenant believer? How am I? Because we we we understand that the first three are something to be observed. Right? Not as a means for salvation, but in response to salvation.

Not as something that we strive for, but something that's already been written on our hearts. But guess what? The fourth commandment has been written on your heart as well. But the question is, so am I supposed to take a break from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown? Does anybody have an idea of what the Sabbath in the old covenant what does it have to do with you as a new covenant believer?

Just a few ideas here and there. Yes?

That it was a picture of the land of Canaan, and that is a picture of salvation according to Hebrews four.

So we see the Sabbath fulfilled in salvation in Christ. Is that what you mean? Absolutely. Yeah. Does anybody wanna elaborate on that?

Christ is risen on Sunday, and he was three days in a grave. Yes. So that's over by the end of the week. K. So it's a new era, new time.

Very good. And we're gonna get into that in a moment as well. Do you ever wonder why you come here on Sunday mornings and not on Saturday evenings? It's important because somebody will say, hey. You shouldn't be doing that Sunday mornings.

You should be doing that between Friday sundown and Saturday sundown. Let's look at this prophetically and then practically. Prophetically, the Sabbath has been fulfilled in Christ. In Colossians two sixteen, this is a key, key, key verse. Therefore, let no one pass judgment.

That's important. Oh, that's important. Let no one pass judgment on you in questions of what? Food and drink, the dietary law. Or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.

These are why? Why? These, all of those, the dietary laws, the feasts, the new moons, and the Sabbath are what? A shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Look how look how careful the apostle Paul is here.

He's speaking about dietary laws, food and drink, and there's a lot about that in the New Testament. But concerning the Sabbath, this is important. He says what? Feasts. Those are yearly.

The yearly feasts that are kept by the nation of Israel. The new moon new moons, those are monthly. And then the Sabbaths, those are weekly. He's saying all of those things, the yearly, the monthly, and the weekly understanding of feasts and Sabbaths, all of those things are but a shadow and Christ is the substance. They all point to Jesus.

He's the fulfillment. All those details, all those things, all those implications ultimately are manifested fully in the person of Jesus Christ. So this is what we have to understand here. The shadow of the Sabbath is you keeping a day holy. The substance is a person.

The shadow is a day. The substance is a person. The practice is this. This is so important. In the old covenant you were to keep that day holy.

You were to relate to that day. You were to enter into that day. In the new covenant, you are to be one with the person, and you are to receive rest from Him, not from a day. Do you see how it's the substance? Do you keep the feast?

Does anybody in here keep the Passover? Why? Because the substance is Christ. The feast of unleavened bread, it's Christ. It's all Christ.

The Sabbath, the resting on that day is fulfilled in him. That's what we have to understand. Oh, we know the famous verse, do we not? Come to me all who and heavy laden, and I will give you what? Rest.

Rest. Hebrews nine. Hebrews four nine. Sorry. You can turn there if you want.

I'm just gonna read it. Hebrews four nine says this. So then there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest so that no one may fall by the same sword of disobedience.

There remains a Sabbath for God's people. And that Sabbath rest is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. And so look at the beauty. Look at the prophetic imagery about the Sabbath in the Old Testament. That the same way that one was supposed to cease from work and rest in God, In the new covenant, you cease from working.

You cease from striving to attain your own salvation and to work in a way in which you try to seek approval from God so that you can have eternal life, and you rest in Christ who did it for you. You rest in him. The same way you cease to work in the old covenant is the same way in the new. You cease from laboring. Listen.

If you are laboring in your relationship with Christ, and what I mean by that is this. If you are in any sense of the way coming to a place in which you are working or obeying so that you can gain approval for a better chance for heaven, you're not in the will of God. Nor you experience you are failing to experience the gospel of Jesus Christ. You have not entered into that rest. And guess what?

It's not on just one day. It's every day. It's not just on one day we experience it. No. He is every day.

We rest in him all day, every day, all night. And it's this inward rest that we've spoken of. It's this tranquility of the soul. It's knowing that because of the gospel, I have peace with God through Christ, that I have the right relationship established with him, that he is my friend, my father, my everything. He's he's not one that's gonna pour out his wrath.

He's gonna pour out grace and eternal life forever. I rest in that. Listen. Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the father. You know why?

Because his work is finished. He completed. He said it is finished. He meant it. He meant it.

But guess what? In Christ, you are seated with Christ in heavenly places. Positionally, you're seated as well. But reality, you're supposed to rest as he is. The same way he's sitting as a picture of rest is the same way you're supposed to inwardly be at rest at all times.

You're seated with him. Relax. Enjoy. Walk this life with a sense of knowing that it's not of your own doing. In the tabernacle, there was so much furniture, but there was one missing furniture piece.

What was it? A chair. Why? Because the priests were continually at work and they could never sit down and take a break. The blood of bulls and goats would never cover sin permanently.

They could never rest. But in the new covenant, Christ is seated at the right hand because it's done. It's over. Rest. It's the it's the the substance.

He is the one that that makes this thing real. The Sabbath itself that day is a is a foreshadowing of what we are to experience every day. What a beautiful thing. Now let's step back here. Because a lot of people will argue against this, against not Sabbath keeping.

And listen, I'm gonna get to that in a moment. But I wanna I wanna explain why, other than that glorious truth, why as believers, I do not believe that we need to keep the Sabbath the way they did in the old covenant. I want I want us to explore why we come and we worship together on Sunday. Okay? I'm gonna name some verses, and you can turn there or write them down.

But these are important because you're gonna have some conversations with some people that believe otherwise. Number one, the Sabbath was a sign. The Sabbath was a sign specifically for the people of Israel under the Mosaic covenant. Remember what we read in Exodus thirty one sixteen? What did it say?

That this is a sign between me and my people, the nation of Israel, for generations to come. Right? So it's a sign that they are in covenant with one another. Now we don't keep that because why? We're under the new covenant.

We don't need to that's not a sign anymore. And I wanna make this argument further. That's the Mosaic covenant. What was the sign under the Abrahamic covenant? What was the sign of covenant between circumcision.

Circumcision was a sign in the Abrahamic covenant. And what did Paul say about circumcision? It don't matter in the new covenant. Whether you're circumcised or uncircumcised does not matter. What matters is a new creation.

Okay. In the same way, because of the new covenant, the Sabbath sign for covenant with God, it's it's ceased to be valid anymore. The same way you don't keep circumcision to have a sign between you and God. It's beyond that. And so we have to understand, he says between my people and me, this is a sign.

Under the Mosaic covenant, we're under the new covenant. Secondly, because some would argue, well, listen. He he did not just give that to the nation of Israel. He said the sojourner had to keep it too. Sojourner.

So the gentile that was coming in and wanted to be converted under this faith had to keep it as well. So it's not just for the nation of Israel. You guys see what I'm saying? But under the new covenant, when Gentiles were getting saved, there was a lot of conversation about what Jews and their law how it related to the Gentile believers. And so what happens?

Acts 15. The leaders, the pillars of the faith come together, and there's a council meeting about what laws should be implemented upon the Gentiles as believers in Christ. That's an important chapter. And guess what he says in chapter 15 verse 28? It seemed good to me and to the Holy Spirit.

So the Holy Spirit's involved. This is not just the disciples idea. The third person of the Godhead is in honor of this. And guess what? He named stuff.

Guess what's not one of them? The Sabbath. If the Sabbath was so important, if it was an eternal decree even into the new covenant, you would think that the Jerusalem Council will include this for the Gentiles to observe. Right? No.

In fact, I wanna challenge you with this. There is not one single command in the New Testament for anybody to keep the Sabbath. There's none. The only direct understanding of how we believers relate to the Sabbath is Colossians two sixteen and seventeen, which is what? Don't judge if somebody doesn't keep it.

That's the only direct command and understanding concerning the Sabbath we have in the New Testament. There is not one that says keep the Sabbath. You would think if the Sabbath was so crucial for the new covenant believer that Paul would mention it in one of his epistles. He doesn't. He doesn't.

Not one epistle does he say, do not forget to keep the Sabbath. Not one letter does he say, make sure that you keep that day holy. Acts 15 contradicts that. Acts 15, they don't even mention it for the Gentile believers to keep. K.

So we're getting this. Now what you do see though is the nine other commandments resurfacing in the new covenant and the epistles, but you don't see the Sabbath. We have to understand here that as Christians, we worship on the Lord's day for a reason. The reason is this, the same way in the Sabbath they were to meditate upon the fact that God was creator of all things is the same way that in, as brother Gino mentioned, in the new covenant, we take the Lord's day to commemorate the Lord's resurrection. The Lord's resurrection.

And so the same way in the old day, they reflected upon creation. In In the new covenant, we reflect upon creation. What? New creation. That because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we can be new creatures in Christ.

And we are to take that day as a important day. Now this is important. Nowhere do you see in the New Testament where it says that Sunday replaces the Sabbath. It doesn't say that because people think that. I want to challenge you even further.

Nowhere does it say in the New Testament that we have to meet on Sunday. Can't find a command. What we do have and the reason for our practice coming together on a weekly basis on Sunday, we have hints throughout the New Testament that this was the practice of the New Testament church. K? And I wanna give you some of those hints.

In Acts 20 verse seven, Acts 20 verse seven. I'm just gonna we're gonna bullet point these verses here. Acts 20 verse seven. This is when the disciples the apostles came to Troas. On the first day of the week, when we gather together to break bread, stop.

So they when do they break bread? The first day of the when's the first day of the week? Sunday, the Lord's day. So we see that in Acts 27. Go to first Corinthians 16 verse one.

Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so also you are to do. On the first day of how many? Every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up as he may prosper. That's a whole another conversation about tithing. We'll get there when we talk about tithing.

But what do we see here? On the first day of every week, the believers are to come together and put aside as he prospers to lay it aside for the ministry and for different needs amongst the churches. When? The first day of every week. Now we come to Revelation.

We come to the book of Revelation chapter one. And this is when John the Apostle is on the island called Patmos. And look what he says in verse 10. I was in the Spirit on what day? On the Lord's Day.

And I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet. So he clearly says that I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. Why is that important? Because John understands that his audience is so familiar with this understanding of the Lord's day, he doesn't even take the time to explain it. His audience understands what the Lord's Day means to the extent where he doesn't take the time to say, yeah, the day in which we now come together and worship the Lord.

He doesn't say that. He knows what it means. Like, you and I today say, I'll see you on church on Sunday. We know exactly what that means. And so we see these hints throughout the New Testament that the believers took the first day of the week as a holy day in a sense to be able to reflect, worship, be strengthened on the preaching of God's word, break bread, and fellowship on the first day of the week.

So then the natural question after that is, well, can I keep the Sabbath? Because I like the part when I was an Israelite for half an hour. And those blessings and those principles are really, really, really good to me. Sure. You can.

Go for it. And guess what? I I would argue that it doesn't have to necessarily be on Saturday, which is the Saturday in the Old Testament. Yes. That's how you kept it.

But it goes even beyond that. Look at Romans 14 verse five. The Sabbath in the Old Testament, yes. Don't get me wrong. Friday sundown to Saturday sundown.

But I want I want us to look at what Paul says concerning this. Verse five of Romans 14. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord.

The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord since he gives thanks to God. While the one who abstains abstains of honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. What is he saying there? There is dispute amongst the Gentiles and the Jews. And here you have some Jews saying different things than the Gentiles.

They have different understandings of days and and food and all these different things, and one's saying you should keep it. Come on. Look at the blessings that come from it. God wrote it in stone. Why would you not do it?

And then there are others who say, well, because of Christ, I see all days alike. I don't just see one day as a day in which I give all my my all my focus. No. I see every day as a as a place where I worship and adore him. And so he says, each one, let them be convinced in their own mind.

If you wanna keep a day in which you designated to give more attention to your relationship to God and to worship and to cease from activity so that you can posture yourself and and reflect upon his goodness, do it. Do it. But don't forget Colossians two sixteen. Don't judge somebody who doesn't. Don't do that.

Likewise, those who do keep the Sabbath, those who keep the literal Sabbath, I'm talking about the way they were supposed in the Old Testament. You who don't keep the Sabbath, don't judge them either. Because each one is fully convinced in their own mind. It's all because of what? The honor that you wanna give to the Lord.

And if that's your conviction, you can do that. This is the the beauty of the freedom we have in Jesus Christ. Not freedom to sin. What a ridiculous doctrine. It's to sin it's to see these things and to understand that there is liberty because Christ has fulfilled these things.

But if you want to do it, you can do it. You can do it. Just don't judge. And if you don't wanna do it, that's fine. Don't judge either.

So don't look at this person and say, oh, look at this person. He's breaking the commandments. And this person is saying, oh, look at that legalistic weirdo. No. Don't do any of that.

Just walk in what you feel convinced to do. I would say this, though. If you wanna keep the Sabbath the way they did in the Old Testament, go full on. I mean, the Sabbath is not just you taking some time off. The Sabbath is more detailed than that.

So if you wanna observe it under the old covenant, look at how they were supposed to observe it in the old covenant. And there are people today that understand how serious this is. They don't even turn on lights when they come into their house because they realize that it generates energy and all these different things. There are people that don't step out of their homes. There are people that don't cook.

So if you wanna observe it under the old covenant, take it as a package. Understand that they were supposed to observe it in a certain way. But I want us to end in two notes here. Number one, I hope that we have clarity of how the Sabbath relates to the old covenant believer, people of God in the old covenant, and the new covenant believer. But I would let me just give my 2¢ here.

And if you wanna take it, you can take it. I believe personally that there is some wisdom in understanding the the way God created the world and the way he has established that week and the way he himself rested. There's some wisdom in that creation order. What do I mean? I mean this, that there is great benefit in us practicing rest in our walk with God.

And I'm not talking about rest in Christ and our salvation and our walk with God. That's there permanently, and it should be. What I'm talking about is actually physically resting. Like the principle of it, there's so much benefit. There is.

Because work is tiring, and we can get busy. And listen, this is not something that's commanded. I'm just saying something as a suggestion. I would strongly suggest that you would be able to develop a habit, especially in light of you working, not for the lazy people, in light of you being a very hardworking individual to learn how to stop and to just reflect, to take time to just worship, delight in the Lord. Imitate that creation order that God has established.

Think about it. God did it in a certain way before it became a command. He did it, and he didn't tell Adam to do it as a law. There's a model there. There's there's wisdom there.

There's principles there. And the principle is this. Learn to take a break to enjoy God from time to time. Learn to take time apart. And you guess what?

You can choose that day. You wanna do it Sunday? Do it Sunday. You wanna do it Saturday? You can do it Saturday.

You wanna do it Monday? Do it Monday. What's the purpose though? You are giving special attention to your relationship with God. And you are giving more attention to this word than you would otherwise.

And you would give more attention to prayer. You'd give more attention to spending time with family. That's a godly thing. You'd give more attention to getting your heart stirred in your relationship with the Lord. And take it from somebody who does do it.

I mean, I I I enjoy doing that. I'm not putting the spotlight on myself. I'm just saying this could be something that continues in my life. It could be something that doesn't continue in my life. I'm just speaking from experience that it's it's it's so beneficial to come to a place where you just pause and you don't read this bible to find a sermon, but you read it to enjoy him.

And you put all that aside, and you say, lord, I'm just here to discover you. There's something about just taking break from everything, even important things, even in the service in the temple. And just go for a walk and enjoy creation. I know it's harder to do it now, but just go for a walk and just enjoy creation. And just reflect upon his beauty.

And to be reminded, god, you redeemed me. And to be reminded my identity is not in what I do even for you directly. And to be reminded that he is the source of my strength and my power and everything else. That everything that I do, everything that I, desire to do, he is the source of it all. And to pick up books and not to find some greater things so I can debate, but books that stir my love for Jesus.

Books on prayer, books and biographies of people who have lived for Christ beforehand, and to just allow that to arouse my affections for Jesus. That's great wisdom. Is it a command? No. It's a suggestion.

I think in the creation order, there is something there for us to take from. That's the first one. The second point is this. I'm concluding with this. Are you resting in Jesus?

Have you ceased to labor to gain his approval? You know it in your heart. You know it in your heart. How do you know? You know based on how you observe his commands.

You know based on how you respond in your heart towards his commands. You know based on the burden that you are carrying every day, is it his yoke? Because his yoke is easy, And his burden is light. You should be light in your walk with Christ. You should not have this sense of condemnation, nor should you have this sense of assurance one day and no assurance the next day.

That's not rest. How can you rest in that? Have you rested in his finished work? Have you realized that your identity and your eternity is based upon what he did on that wooden cross? Is he your Sabbath?

And are you experiencing it every day? If not, the invitation is here for you tonight to say, God, I had this wrong view of how I am to relate to you. I thought I had to work to get to you. I thought that I had to keep sacraments to get to you. I thought that I had to keep commands.

I thought I had to have this church attendance. I thought I had to keep communion consistently, whatever it may I thought I had to be baptized to get to you. No. It's what Jesus Christ did on the cross. And you have a chance tonight to enter into that rest for the rest of your life and for it to be experienced in a way that you cannot imagine in eternity.

Enter in that rest while it's made available. Come to the Lord of the Sabbath and receive this inward serenity that's available to you. Bow your heads with me, please. Father, we thank you for the clarity of your scripture that there is no confusion with you. You are a God of order.

You are a God of clarity. And Lord, we just step into this revelation that Jesus Christ is our rest. And Lord, we just want to experience that rest to a greater degree inside our hearts. And so Lord Jesus, by the power of your Holy Spirit, if there's anybody in this place that does not have that inward rest because they have not stepped into relationship with Jesus, May you tonight alter that for the rest of their days. And may they in this place realize that you are inviting them to come and to receive that rest and to learn from you for you are gentle and lowly in heart.

And that your burden is light. Your yoke is easy. Father, give us wisdom to know how to understand this fourth commandment. That in the old covenant, the way to break it was to not observe a day. But in the new covenant, the way to break it is to not rest in Jesus.

And so help us rest in Jesus in order to fulfill this commandment. Thank you, Lord, again that your word gives us life. Lord, give us wisdom to know how to adopt that creation order as a principle in our own lives to to not think that we must go on without stopping, but you invite us even to just take that break and to enjoy you. Not that we don't enjoy you on the other days of the week, but to to give that special attention to the Lord. Whether it's once a month, once a week, whatever it may be, Lord.

Bring us bring us to the place where we can practice this. So father, we pray that as your word has been spoken, that the hearts in this place received it in different ways, but for their own edification and for their own building up. And Lord, we worship you tonight knowing that we have peace with God through Christ. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Amen.