Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Well, it is my privilege to be able to open God's word with you this morning. We're continuing our study in the 10 commandments. I feel like I need to bring everybody up to speed because I haven't seen faces in the near past, but I hope that you've been tracking with us online. We're up to number four. Anybody. Remember what number four is?
Speaker 1 00:00:18 No.
Speaker 0 00:00:19 And your parents know that. That's good. That you're ahead on that one though. Yes. Right? Keep the Sabbath day. Holy here's actually what it says in, uh, in the passage that we're in Exodus chapter 20 in verse eight, if you're looking online and uh, you'd like to follow along in your Bibles, remember the Sabbath day to keep it. Holy
Speaker 0 00:00:40 There's a key findings from a Pew research forum on a survey actually about how many, how much Americans know about religion. This was not too far ago. This is a panel discussion at the national symposium in religious literacy in Washington, DC. So these are people that are supposed to know their Bibles, right? The question to them was which one of these is I'm sorry, which one of these is not among the 10 commandments. You ready first do not commit adultery. Number two, do not steal number three, keep the Sabbath day. Holy number four, do unto others. As you would have them do unto you. You want to know the results a little more than half knows that the golden rule, which is do unto others as you would have them do unto you a little under half thought that those were part of the 10 commandments,
Speaker 1 00:01:31 The most common
Speaker 0 00:01:32 Wrong answer. By the way of all of those four was keep the Sabbath day. Holy more than a quarter of Americans. Think that keep the Sabbath day. Holy is not among the 10 commandments routers, published a study not long ago. And this was, this was a study that kinda got my attention. How many of the 10 commandments can you name versus how many of the ingredients in McDonald's big Mac
Speaker 1 00:01:59 Eight and
Speaker 0 00:01:59 10 got the primary ingredients in the big back, which is all double beef. Periled all beef patties. Right? Two. I'll be fatties. Come on now. I know. All right, let's do the take of Evans now. Yeah, everybody here is doing the, uh, the little jingle six and 10, six and 10 could even remember to add the pickle, but only three in 10 named keep the Sabbath day. Holy as part of the tank amendments.
Speaker 1 00:02:28 How important
Speaker 0 00:02:28 Is this command to God? Well, I'm glad you asked. Look at this verse, Exodus 31, verse 13 above all God says you shall keep my Sabbath for it as a sign between me and you throw out your generations that you may know that I, the Lord sanctify you, you shall keep the Sabbath because it is Holy for you. Everyone who pervades it shall be put to what church shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul should be cut off from among his people. How important is this one to God? It's pretty important.
Speaker 1 00:03:05 Why is it so important to God? This is my
Speaker 0 00:03:08 Big question. And should it be important to us? Obviously it may not be because we know what to put on a big bag, but we're not sure if it's even in the 10 commandments. So I have three questions for you this morning. Number one, why did the Sabbath begin? Number two. What does a day of rest really mean? And number three, am I responsible to observe a Sabbath today? Good questions.
Speaker 1 00:03:34 All right, here we go. Why did the Sabbath begin? Will it be
Speaker 0 00:03:38 Again? Because they, they got the ruling at Sinai here. It is again, in case you missed it. Exodus 20 verse eight, we're jumping into number four and God says, remember the Sabbath day, say it with me church. If you would to keep it,
Speaker 1 00:03:52 Keep it. Holy
Speaker 0 00:03:53 Sabbath is used 71 times in the old Testament, the word Sabbath is repeated 71 times. The basic thrust of Sabbath is to cease and desist
Speaker 1 00:04:03 To stop. Remember to be fair. The Hebrews
Speaker 0 00:04:08 Here have already been observing a Sabbath before they got to the Sinai. Before they get to this mountain, they're receiving the 10 commandments. God has already given them food, falling from the sky. You remember this? We actually studied it last year during COVID. So it may be in the gray areas of your recesses of your mind. But as the children of Israel are wandering through the desert, as they've escaped the clutches of Egypt, now they are free, but they don't have food. So God reigns food from heaven called manna and manna in Hebrew means,
Speaker 1 00:04:41 What is it? Now? It doesn't mean pizza. It means what is it?
Speaker 0 00:04:45 We did this stuff. And they said, what is it? And that's what they called it. Go get the, what is it from the ground? They have been observing the Sabbath because they weren't allowed to gather the, what is it on Sundays on Saturdays the last day of the week. They don't understand why this day is important, but what they're receiving is more instructions on.
Speaker 1 00:05:07 They're already used to it.
Speaker 0 00:05:08 And they're already instructed on some of the things they're about to get instructed on that. Just kind of like in your gut, you know, it's bad to murder right? In your gut. You know, it's bad to commit adultery in your gut. You know that some of these things are just wrong in your gut. You know, it's bad to bear false witness, you know, in your gut, these things are wrong, but who in the world would have figured out keep one day separate. So God gives them specific instructions for this one day, nobody in their gut comes up with, Oh, I think I should take a break one time a week. So God explains it to them. You are,
Speaker 1 00:05:44 We're built to take a break and back to McDonald's and we would go, you deserve a break today. Yeah. That's that's an old jingle. Keep it Holy. And so the way, the way that I'd like
Speaker 0 00:05:58 To kind of explain this to all of us in a way that we can just kind of capture, put into our heads and walk out the door, remembering is this
Speaker 1 00:06:07 Sabbath means resting with purpose, resting with purpose.
Speaker 0 00:06:15 God lays it out for them. And he says, in case you're not understanding how important this day is. He says, here's all encompassing. This is what it should be. And to keep in mind, he said, you know, one, God, no idols, no other name. He said all those things that are short and sweet, but he gets to Sabbath and he gives it like three or four verses. Here's what he says in verse nine, six days, you shall
Speaker 1 00:06:36 Labor. He goes
Speaker 0 00:06:38 On, he says, do all your work in those six days. But on the seventh day, it is a Sabbath to the Lord. Your God on it. You shall not do any work. You just in case, you're wondering you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, your livestock, even the animals or the Sojourner who is within your Gates. You got visitors on Saturday. They don't work either. I don't know how many of you put your guests to work in your house, but on Saturday, you're not allowed to do that. We do that all the time. Trent will tell you he's regularly at our house. And he works a lot. When he's there
Speaker 1 00:07:15 Six days, you are to do all your work. And on the seventh day, it is a day to the Lord. Not you, not anyone in your house, not even your guests are allowed to work
Speaker 0 00:07:27 On this day. You are to cease
Speaker 1 00:07:29 Normal work patterns.
Speaker 0 00:07:33 Now keep in mind. These were slaves who had worked there themselves almost to death. In fact,
Speaker 1 00:07:38 Many of them have. They are used
Speaker 0 00:07:40 To only working for the man and
Speaker 1 00:07:42 Getting a break. Only thing that slaves know is work.
Speaker 0 00:07:46 Keep working and then work after that. And God says, I'm going to pull that out of your DNA and explain to you. You are not made to function
Speaker 1 00:07:55 That way. I
Speaker 0 00:07:57 Have created you in a way that is not meant for you to work your fingers to the bone.
Speaker 1 00:08:01 Constantly slaves
Speaker 0 00:08:03 Would have been very difficult to pull this out of their DNA. God does. God wants them to know. They no longer serve the taskmaster Pharaoh. Now they serve God and God demands a day,
Speaker 1 00:08:15 Day of rest. Take one day,
Speaker 0 00:08:18 Rest on purpose and use
Speaker 1 00:08:20 The day on purpose.
Speaker 0 00:08:23 In fact, use the day to remember, if you look at a parallel passage in Deuteronomy five in verse 15, God explains even further. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord. Your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord, your God commanded you to
Speaker 1 00:08:40 Keep the Sabbath day church.
Speaker 0 00:08:43 These folks were being told. Stop, realize work is not all. There
Speaker 1 00:08:49 Is. Remember you
Speaker 0 00:08:51 Have been rescued by somebody and you didn't lift a finger to do it
Speaker 1 00:08:56 And throw,
Speaker 0 00:08:57 Sorry, continue to remember that. If you want to survive, you've got to rest
Speaker 1 00:09:01 In me. Your
Speaker 0 00:09:03 Survival depends on the way you serve me from here on out. Remember, you did nothing
Speaker 1 00:09:09 Yet here and trust. I've got this from here. Giving me your time.
Speaker 0 00:09:15 <inaudible> God says is your declaration that you want to live by faith. You want to be my peace
Speaker 1 00:09:24 Nations around Israel. They would non-stop work. They would work,
Speaker 0 00:09:28 Work, and work and work. There was no day of rest. It's not built into a natural normal schedule for our human bodies. We just, we work. And if we're not working for her vacation for vocationally, we're working at home doing something at home. And if we don't work at home because we got a break and we got children while we never stop
Speaker 1 00:09:45 Working, we are,
Speaker 0 00:09:47 We are, we are functionally working human beings, the nations around Israel. They never practiced a day of rest and they would constantly work. And God's purpose in doing this was so that they could look at the Israelites and say, man, they're taking a break. Every single week, they take a whole 24 hours off. They're not even going to get anything done. And at the end of the year, when they count out the produce, they find out that the nations around them had less than the people of Israel. Why? Because God supplies.
Speaker 1 00:10:17 Yes.
Speaker 0 00:10:17 This was meant to be an act of faith that they trusted that God would both have, have rescued them and will provide for them
Speaker 1 00:10:25 In the future.
Speaker 0 00:10:28 Constantly relying on the works of their hands to survive would only bring them to depression and despair. They needed to depend on God. In other words, Sabbath was their reminder. They're not the people they once
Speaker 1 00:10:42 Were Sabbath
Speaker 0 00:10:44 Was their reminder. You're no longer a slave Israel. You have been rescued by me and I will take care of you. You are mine now. You don't work for Pharaoh
Speaker 1 00:10:56 Anymore. Now
Speaker 0 00:10:58 I've got to tell you before I get to the so Watts I've, I inserted one quickly here because I just couldn't get that out of my head. Do you realize church
Speaker 1 00:11:06 That when God calls
Speaker 0 00:11:07 Us out of the world to be his people, when God puts his hand on us and pulls us out. And, and when we realize, Hey, listen to, I need to serve God with my life. I need to give my life to Jesus. He died on the cross for my sins and my sins are gone and I need to trust in him. When that happens, the Bible says we are new. More than that. It says we are a new people. Like Israel rescued out of Egypt. We have been rescued out of our sins and we are a new people. We are a Royal
Speaker 1 00:11:34 Oil priesthood. We are a Holy nation,
Speaker 0 00:11:37 Just like the Israelites. Look at how God says that it is where Jesus actually gives us same principle to the church. Jesus talks about it in Luke 12 verse 29, do not seek what you turn, what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried for all the nations of the world around you seek. After these things, you see the parallels here and your father, the one you serve now knows you need these things instead seek his kingdom. And all these things will be added unto you. Don't you just feel like no matter how hard you work, you never seem to,
Speaker 1 00:12:10 You get ahead. Don't you feel like the nations around Israel? Sometimes my car, which I am called,
Speaker 0 00:12:18 Certainly working on one of my cars. They are not new.
Speaker 1 00:12:22 They are projects my car.
Speaker 0 00:12:27 He had a terrible sound coming from the rear and it has been happening for a while. And I thought to myself, terrible sound, no big deal. You know, drive it until it gets too bad. So my kids will tell you, they actually drove it around. It was their car and it got noisy or noisy until one day I got in it and I drove up the road and it sounded like I was driving this world war II tank. And I thought to myself, okay, I got to get this checked out. That can't be good. It's just getting worse. So I drove it in and I, I finally got it checked out. Finally, I broke down and realized it was a bearing on the rear wheel. We got it all repaired. The guy had to blow it off there with a blow torch because I had just driven it.
Speaker 0 00:13:06 Right. It's just one solid piece of metal, but we finally got it fixed. And I'm thinking to myself, finally check there's one thing off my list. I've had to do it for a while, but I finally decided to do it. I parked it in the driveway. Couple of weeks later, one of my girls came in and said, Hey dad, the handle on the door broke. And I was like, you gotta be kidding me. I finally forked out money to get this stupid thing fixed. And now the handle on the door breaks. It's like, it's like, no matter how hard you work, there's always something else to do. Load 16 tons. And what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt. Sabbath reminds us church. Sabbath reminds us. There's always work to do.
Speaker 1 00:13:53 You'll never have a time
Speaker 0 00:13:54 In your life when there's no work to do. There's always work. It surrounds us. But life is about more
Speaker 1 00:14:01 Then work. What does a day of rest mean? Verse 11, God.
Speaker 0 00:14:10 It goes on in the explanation of the Sabbath day and he explains it more to us so that we understand in six days, the Lord made heaven and earth. Why is he giving us this? This must explanation. There's a reason for this. In six days, the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them. And he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it
Speaker 1 00:14:32 Holy
Speaker 0 00:14:34 We are to understand Sabbath is not some brand new revelation at Sinai. And it's not even something that the children of Israel are experiencing for the very first time in the wilderness. When the manna falls from heaven, Sabbath has been a principle since the foundation of the world. Sabbath has been an example for us to, because God doesn't need a break, but God took a break. God created all there is in six days and he took the seventh day off and he made it Holy. Do you know what Holy means? You should know what Holy means. Kadosh kadosh yes, it means set apart. It means different from, it means this day, God blessed and made it different from the rest. Intentionally, God created the Sabbath and made it different for us as human beings. That means we rest. We stop with purpose. Now this goes against our natural inclination. We get so busy on the weekend with stuff to do that. We're just about as busy on Saturday and Sunday as we are on all other five days a week. And I don't know what your work schedule is. Maybe, maybe your work five or 10 days in a row, and you get a four day break. I don't know what your work schedule is, but the bottom line is it is baked into our DNA from the beginning of time that we are supposed to take a break.
Speaker 0 00:16:00 God even exists. It gives us this example at creation. Now the world, the way the world does this is they take a break as well. I worked at a job, seems like yesterday, but it was quite a while ago. I worked with all of these wonderful friends of mine. And we were at a, uh, it was like a, it was like a Walmart it's called Canadian tire. It was a wonderful place to work. And, and, and when I worked there, I remember I was just a young guy at the time. And I can remember all of my friends and they would work so hard all week. And then they'd say, I just, I just can't wait for the weekend to come. I can't wait for it to be the weekend. And then Saturday and Sunday would come and then I'd see them on Monday. And they're like zombies on Monday.
Speaker 0 00:16:40 I'd say what you did over the what'd you do over the weekend. And they say, I don't really remember. It's kind of a haze. Well, how much money did you spend everything I made last week? It's like, it's like they, they worked so hard so that they could have a couple of days, one or two days a break, but their break was full of meaning the, this we work church so that we can have a break. We can have a day full of meaning so that we can achieve something. We don't work so that we can get to something where we can stop and just flake out. We work so that we can get to something. And we can appreciate this as the day. This is what life is about. This is full of meaning. Their day is meaningless, but our day is meaning filled. Sabbath is the end with meaning and God rested on the seventh day so that we could capture something in what he was doing. Again, he didn't need a break. He took a break because of two reasons. One as an example to us and two, we should look
Speaker 1 00:17:50 At what he did on that day church. What did he do on the sixth day? What's what did he create on the sixth day? All right. Is there a pickle on a big Mac?
Speaker 0 00:18:04 Pat is, uh, what did he create on the 60 day credit humankind? He created Adam on the sixth day human beings on the sixth day. And then it says in Genesis two in verse two, and on the seventh day, God finished his work, all the, that he had done. And he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed. Here you go again, blessed the seventh day and made it Holy because on it, God rested from all the work that he had done in creation. Sabbath was a moment for him
Speaker 1 00:18:36 Enjoy what he made. Now. I
Speaker 0 00:18:40 Grew up in a Baptist church that I didn't get this talk very
Speaker 1 00:18:42 Much. I got a lot of dudes
Speaker 0 00:18:44 And don'ts and Dow shouts, and a lot of that kind of language. But I want you to know that this is an amazing part of,
Speaker 1 00:18:51 Because of the first day of Adam's life he spent with God.
Speaker 0 00:18:57 I can imagine Adam was just newborn and he, and he thinks to himself, there's a lot of work to do around here. I mean, we got to make a garden, we gotta get this fruit up and running. I know there's all kinds of fruit on the trees, but that's going to get old and we gotta have something to grow and later on, and all these animals need to be named. And there's a lot to do. And God says,
Speaker 1 00:19:13 Just distressed. It's hang out with me for, for a few minutes here. Let's just walk a little bit,
Speaker 0 00:19:19 You know, in the book of Genesis, it says that God
Speaker 1 00:19:22 Walked with Adam and Eve. I wonder if that was only on Sabbath. I wonder if that's the day they looked forward to when they could be with him.
Speaker 0 00:19:31 I'd been every day. I don't know. It's not clear in scripture what it is, but all we know is that God loved to be with his creation. He loved to be with humans, humans where the crowning achievement, all that was created was given to the human being to enjoy. And on this day, on this day of man's first
Speaker 1 00:19:49 Birth on his first
Speaker 0 00:19:51 Day of life, God said, let's just take a break and enjoy what I made for a while.
Speaker 1 00:19:59 I love it, God,
Speaker 0 00:20:01 Without them on the first day and spend his time building a relationship with Adam, this
Speaker 1 00:20:07 The importance of the seventh day, the Hebrews are new at Sinai. They're no longer slaves. They're God's people. And God
Speaker 0 00:20:19 Says to them now you're my people. What I want you to do is take one day, the day at the end of the week, work like mad all through the week. Just do whatever needs to be done. But the last day is when you enjoy me and I enjoy it.
Speaker 1 00:20:31 You, they were no longer
Speaker 0 00:20:36 Your slaves. There were no longer who they once were. Now they're able to sit at the table of the maker of the universe. They were called to eat at the table of the King. And they were meant to enjoy
Speaker 1 00:20:45 That. One day, especially one day
Speaker 0 00:20:50 Sabbath was our moment carved out by God to remember that they were new and they could take time to enjoy God and church. That is the same for us. Like I said, when God calls us out of the world and we realize this brand new relationship we have with him. And if you're a brand new Christian or you're exploring your faith for the first time, you understand what it means because sometimes it's really difficult to put the Bible down. Sometimes it's really difficult to stop spending time with God. You just want to eat and you want to drink and you want more and more your relationship with God is something that's, that's almost tangible.
Speaker 1 00:21:25 We are used
Speaker 0 00:21:26 To it after a while and we shouldn't. And that's why the Sabbath is important because it's important for us to set time apart. And remember how important this relationship to us is to us or else we'll work ourselves into a tether and we will become depressed because we'll never get ahead. We'll always be surrounded by work, but church, if you've been redeemed by God, you have a chance to spend time with God. One day a week, just one day,
Speaker 1 00:21:50 Just a part of a day.
Speaker 0 00:21:53 So you can spend time with God whenever you want to. But this is a concerted effort so that you can keep your mind, your heart and your life and focus with what really matters. Cause I don't know about you, but I can easily get stuck in the minutia of life. I can't hardly get to a church service without thinking about all the stuff I got to do in my life. All of the work that surrounds me, all this stuff I got to do when I get home, Sabbath is our effort to fight against that.
Speaker 1 00:22:22 That's why,
Speaker 0 00:22:22 Let me read you the passage that I quoted earlier. Second, first, Peter, two nine, you church are a chosen race, a Royal priesthood, a Holy nation of people for his own possession that you might proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy. Now you are full of God.
Speaker 1 00:22:47 His mercy Sabbath is a time when we stop cease and desist. And remember we are not who we once were. And church,
Speaker 0 00:23:00 It is baked into our DNA
Speaker 1 00:23:04 That we must do this.
Speaker 0 00:23:08 Symbols of Sabbath are important to Israel and they are important to us because they are not only given to us at Sinai, but they are revealed to us way back at the beginning of creation, they are the way we are created to function. This is the way we are created to function. We have a tendency to fill our spaces with anything but time with our creator. Look at COVID in 2020,
Speaker 1 00:23:33 A lot of people had time on their hands. Sit at home.
Speaker 0 00:23:36 Tom, I don't know if, if you went through this or not, but, but a lot of people just kind of were gone. I don't know what I'm going to do with my time. Like I have all this time on hands. I don't know what I'm going to do with my time. So, so this new thing called zoom was introduced to us and I learn to despise that
Speaker 1 00:23:54 Zoom. I have found that even when I don't have a whole lot to do, I still find plenty to do. I still get stressed out.
Speaker 0 00:24:08 Technology was supposed to make my life easier and it has only made my life a lot more difficult. God knows this need we have in us. God knows we will fill every empty space with stuff. And so God says, I need to tell you something at Sinai. He reveals it to them in the fourth commandment you are made now that you are mine. You need to know I made you in this way. You need a break. And if you don't get one, you'll find you'll get
Speaker 1 00:24:43 Only older and deeper in debt. He built this need in us for him.
Speaker 0 00:24:50 In fact, Jesus made it very clear to us when he was asked about the Sabbath, listen to these words, Mark two verse 27. Jesus said to them, the Sabbath was made for
Speaker 1 00:25:00 Church. The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. We are made with a need to cease and desist.
Speaker 0 00:25:15 So the last question is, am I responsible to keep a Sabbath?
Speaker 1 00:25:19 I am prone.
Speaker 0 00:25:20 I don't know if you are to fill up six or seven or 12 days a week with stuff that needs to be done. Constant work and church. I want to just encourage you. Your life is not about your work. The one question that just gets on my nerves so often is when you meet somebody new, they say, Hey, I'm Craig, what's your name? Hey, Jimmy, good to meet you. What do you do? What do you do? It's like my whole identity is found in what I do. And if they asked me that on the golf course on number three, the cursing stops and all of that bad behavior stops. And now they turn into little saints because they find out that I'm a pastor.
Speaker 1 00:25:57 Listen,
Speaker 0 00:25:57 Your life is not about your work, but everything in you wants to make it that way. Our world definitely pushes us in this direction. Sabbath represents an opportunity to remember God is at the center of my life and Jesus has all, I
Speaker 1 00:26:11 Need reject
Speaker 0 00:26:14 Your natural instinct to work, to get ahead and trust God that he will do what needs to be done. Jesus is described as being the very substance of our Sabbath. Did you know that it's like, okay, in case you're missing this, Jesus is the fulfillment of the Sabbath for you. The church. Cause the question is, do I need to keep a Sabbath? My DNA is the same as Andrew and Eve. I am a human being. I know it's baked into me that I need a break. I see what's done at Sinai. They're new people. God says to them, listen, I gotta tell you something. You need a focus on what's important. I made you to function that way. Jesus comes along and says Sabbath was, was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. You got to take a break. And so the question that I have
Speaker 1 00:26:55 I have is do I need a break? And Jesus comes
Speaker 0 00:26:59 And says, listen, I am the very substance of your Sabbath. Cautions two in verse 16. Therefore let no one pass judgment on you with questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a what church
Speaker 1 00:27:12 Or a Sabbath.
Speaker 0 00:27:14 Some people are going to come up to you and they're gonna say, Hey, you're not taking the day off. You're not taking the six day off for 17. These are a shadow of things to come. The substance belongs to Christ. You know, that means, that means that the Sabbath somehow pointed toward Jesus Christ and when Jesus came and revealed himself, when he lived a perfect life, when he worked his fingers to the bone and lived a perfect life of absolute perfect work, he got to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins because his work was perfect. Every single jot and tittle of it. So when he died and Rose again from the dead, his work being perfect, achieve salvation for us, I can't work and be perfect. He did. So he, Jesus is
Speaker 1 00:27:57 Sabbath Israel.
Speaker 0 00:28:01 They celebrated the Sabbath as they waited for Jesus, they worked, they did sacrifices. They, they went to the high priest. They went to the temple. They did all of those things, but they were always a shadow of what was to come. And when Jesus came, he was a perfect type
Speaker 1 00:28:15 Priest. He was, he was our perfect sacrifice. He lived a perfect life so that I don't have to anymore. I ride to heaven on the coattails of Jesus Christ. He was perfect.
Speaker 0 00:28:30 So I don't have to be, he died
Speaker 1 00:28:33 So I don't have to. And he was judged for the sins that I committed. So I'm not judged for them any longer. And I rest in that. So when we get to
Speaker 0 00:28:45 Other church on Sunday, if you're wondering why we talk about Jesus and singing about Jesus and pray in Jesus' name and it's all about Jesus it's because this is our time to gather and worship. This is our moment to focus on what really matters. This is our break that God has baked into our DNA. And we talk about Jesus because he has accomplished everything. So we don't have,
Speaker 1 00:29:04 And we rest in his work because Jesus
Speaker 0 00:29:10 Live this perfect life, died Rose from the dead. We find rest for our souls. In fact, in Hebrews four, you'll find great theology in these verses, but here's just a quick little snip out of verse three. We who have believed in Jesus, enter his
Speaker 1 00:29:24 Rest. Jesus is our Sabbath. We rest in the work that he has done because of Jesus.
Speaker 0 00:29:31 Jesus. We can love God because of Jesus. We're accepted in the beloved because of Jesus. We know that he sat down at the right hand of the, of the father, God. So there is no more work be done. The work is done for our redemption. We can rest in that because Jesus gives us the Holy spirit. We have an eternal right to be standing
Speaker 1 00:29:48 With God. So Craig, what are you saying?
Speaker 0 00:29:55 Are you telling me the Sabbath is important, but because of Jesus and his perfection, I don't have to observe it
Speaker 1 00:30:00 Any more sort of.
Speaker 0 00:30:07 So what's number one is observe a day or a part of the day as a Sabbath for your soul.
Speaker 1 00:30:14 Remember
Speaker 0 00:30:14 The purpose of, of Sabbath is baked into our DNA. We are created for the need to take a break, goes against, it goes against our natural instinct, but we are created with a need to take a break. And so church, I would say, do these three things on your break, stop,
Speaker 1 00:30:31 Stop, refresh, and delight, stop, refresh and delight. We don't,
Speaker 0 00:30:41 You don't take a Sabbath. Our needle goes to eat very quickly
Speaker 1 00:30:45 And I don't know about
Speaker 0 00:30:46 You, but you may be at home thinking to yourself. I don't feel like I've had a Sabbath in a while because it's just work, work, work. And all I get to do is watch TV on Sunday and maybe, maybe get to enjoy a service on Sunday. Can't wait to come back. And so it's very ironic that we're talking about Sabbath on the first day that we're back here at fountain
Speaker 1 00:31:01 View, but for those of them
Speaker 0 00:31:04 Set our back for those of us that have comments that we probably understand at the end of this time together, there's something fulfilled in us. The needle goes from E just a little bit
Speaker 1 00:31:16 Up from the time
Speaker 0 00:31:18 That we spend together. Why? Because we're focusing on what really matters. And I could, I could preach a dud and you might, you probably would still walk out of here going, well, I hope you would anyway, go on. It was good to be with God's people. It was good to sing praises to God. It was good. What you're saying is it was good
Speaker 1 00:31:42 To stop and focus
Speaker 0 00:31:47 Baked into our DNA. And if you're feeling, feeling that today, if you're, if you feel that at home, if you're missing that because you haven't been together now, you know why, and if you feel frustrated because you haven't been together now, you know why we've been missing this part of our, our physiology. And we try tried, we can do it anytime we want. We can do it at home, but, but there's just something about gathering together and singing and being with God's people that it seems like that needle goes off the E and R we'll call it a P purposelessness and it moves up in our lives just a little
Speaker 1 00:32:21 Bit. The other 10
Speaker 0 00:32:23 Commands are found in really simple, deep, moral truths. There's one, God don't murder. Don't commit adultery. But this one is baked into the cycle, not just of our lives. Did you know that this seven year cycle, the seven day cycle is baked into everything around us, those of you that are farmers or have ever worked on a farm, you know this to be true in scripture, it tells us that even the land must rest every seven
Speaker 1 00:32:49 Years, I went
Speaker 0 00:32:51 To California and I saw these vines and I love going to the vineyards. And it's so peaceful there. And I saw all the grapes hanging on the vines and they were all sitting there to rod and I, I went to the, the guy that owned it. I said, what, why are you letting these vines, right? He said, it's a seventh year.
Speaker 1 00:33:07 You let the land rest on the seventh year. Do you know that comes from
Speaker 0 00:33:12 Scripture. It's in Leviticus 25 in verse three for six years, you shall so your field for six years, you shall prune your vineyard and gather its fruits. But on the seventh
Speaker 1 00:33:21 Year, there shall be a
Speaker 0 00:33:23 Sabbath of solemn rest for the what church for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord, you shall not sow your field. Prune your vineyard. You shall not report grows of itself in your harvest or gather the grapes of your undressed. Vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. Does it not blow you away? That Sabbath is even baked into the
Speaker 1 00:33:45 Earth. I need to take a break is, is completely
Speaker 0 00:33:52 Enveloping. Every part
Speaker 1 00:33:54 Of our lives, Sabbath is everywhere.
Speaker 0 00:33:58 Sure. You have it in your life as well. It's like, it's like a top that God begins spinning at creation and God spins this top and you know how the top goes and goes, and then eventually begins to wobble. And you know, it's going to come down and eventually that wobbling, it's going to hit the ground. And then it's going to just freak out and end up under the trash can or something.
Speaker 1 00:34:17 The S
Speaker 0 00:34:18 The top that Jesus begins at top that God begins to spin a creation
Speaker 1 00:34:22 Is our lives. And unless we,
Speaker 0 00:34:24 You take a break, every Sabbath, we begin to wobble and we can endure that for some time, but eventually it'll catch up to us. And some of the most depressed people in the world are the people
Speaker 1 00:34:36 Work the hardest. It is not a sin to skip the Sabbath, but it's not smart either. Now
Speaker 0 00:34:46 In our culture, we're given the gift of Sundays. This was thanks to St. Constantine as Roman emperor changed the last day of the week to the first day of the week to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Did you know that? And so for the Christian Church, we have turned our Sabbath instead of the last day of the week to the first day of the week, the day that Jesus Rose from the dead, there's nothing magic about the day. It could be on Saturday. It can be on Sunday, could be half a day on Wednesday. But the fact of the matter is your cycle demands a break. And if you haven't taken a break, you're probably thinking maybe it's time to
Speaker 1 00:35:25 Now
Speaker 0 00:35:25 What you're going to, where are you going to struggle with is if I don't keep working, I'm going to get behind fight.
Speaker 1 00:35:30 That urge, take
Speaker 0 00:35:32 A break. Even if it's a half a day,
Speaker 1 00:35:34 Rest with purpose naturally
Speaker 0 00:35:41 On a Sunday, we're given the silver platter. That's why I enjoy Sunday so much because we get to stop and we get to gather, we get to do something different than the rest. And we get to refresh. We stop. We refresh, we celebrate the activities of,
Speaker 1 00:35:54 Of worship, and we get to
Speaker 0 00:35:57 Delight. We remember to give joy and thanks to God
Speaker 1 00:36:01 And church. We are
Speaker 0 00:36:02 Recommended in scripture to keep this day, as often as we can. Well, your church can be on Saturday. Give me on Friday, me on Sunday. It doesn't matter. But if you are given silver platter opportunities to take a Sabbath,
Speaker 1 00:36:14 Stop, refresh, and delight, you should take advantage of it instantly.
Speaker 0 00:36:19 Sure. It says that you should Hebrews 10 verse 24 says, let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good works. Not neglecting to meet together as the habit of summit,
Speaker 1 00:36:29 But encouraging one another. All the more as you see the day approaching bottom line is whatever time you take to Sabbath clinging to the purposes of Sabbath. Stop refresh, delight. Sabbath means stop refresh in scripture. Remember Sabbath is over 70 times. I mentioned, and one of the times
Speaker 0 00:37:00 It's used, I love this passage of scripture reminds us why refresh should be in this day. Exodus 31, verse 16. God says it is assigned 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 and he was, what is it?
Speaker 1 00:37:16 Last word there refreshed. Do you think God needs to be refreshed? Probably not. But he gives us
Speaker 0 00:37:25 This example. He rested and he was refreshed. And I got to think a part of it was, he got to spend time
Speaker 1 00:37:30 With Adam. He got to spend time with these new creators, Adam and Eve, and sharing his creation with them. Use a stick
Speaker 0 00:37:41 To refresh your mind in the truth of Jesus Christ. He is bought your freedom, not your
Speaker 1 00:37:46 High paying job. He provides your needs, not your paycheck. He has given you purpose, not your work. He will give you perfect peace. Refresh means intentionality. We should not.
Speaker 0 00:38:03 I use this day to catch up with work that wears us down, nor should we use it as a lazy
Speaker 1 00:38:09 Opportunity. This means rest with purpose. This is redirected energy. And so the last one is delight. Stop refresh, delight,
Speaker 0 00:38:21 Isaiah 58, verse 13. If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my Holy day and call the Sabbath,
Speaker 1 00:38:28 Watch church a delight. Then you shall take delight in the Lord. When you learned,
Speaker 0 00:38:37 Let's set this day aside and delight in the day, then you learn to delight in the Lord. Why? Because Sabbath is resting with
Speaker 1 00:38:44 Purpose,
Speaker 0 00:38:47 The light and something. You're actively doing something. Humans got so screwed up on this. They started saying, Sabbath is a day that you shouldn't be doing anything
Speaker 1 00:38:56 Like breathing
Speaker 0 00:38:57 Is okay, but anything beyond that, that's out the window. Humans got so screwed up on this. The farracies actually chided Jesus for healing on the Sabbath. Did
Speaker 1 00:39:09 You know that Jesus
Speaker 0 00:39:12 Sees a man that's sick. He heals on the Sabbath and the Pharisees have a conniption. Why did you work on the Sabbath?
Speaker 1 00:39:19 And Jesus is gone. Do you not get it?
Speaker 0 00:39:23 Sabbath is not so that you can sit down on your Duff and be lazy. Sabbath is so you can focus on the things of God and use your gifts to bless others and bless God that Sabbath stuff. He says it this way in Matthew 12, he said to them, which one of you who has a sheep? If he falls into a pit on the Sabbath, won't take hold of it and lift it out. That's a dumb question. You've got a sheep that falls into a pit and it's injured. Which one of you is going to let him leave. Stay there until Sunday, let it die. And then Yanko the dead body. That's silly. You're going to reach down. You're going to pull it out. That's normal. Why? Because you have compassion on the sheep,
Speaker 1 00:39:57 Out of how,
Speaker 0 00:39:58 Of how much more Jesus says a value is a man than a sheep. I feel like I'm talking to kindergartners. So it is lawful. I love that word. It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. You know what Jesus is saying to them? It fulfills the,
Speaker 1 00:40:14 To do good on this
Speaker 0 00:40:16 Sabbath. Sabbath is not about not doing anything. Sabbath is about resting with purpose, refocusing,
Speaker 1 00:40:23 Stop, refresh, delight.
Speaker 0 00:40:26 Sabbath is doing things on purpose. So what can I do on the Sabbath? Well, I'm glad you asked
Speaker 1 00:40:37 For me.
Speaker 0 00:40:38 I've heard people say, well, Craig, it's not really worked to me. Like the last thing I would want to do on the Sabbath is work in my garden. That just sounds like not fun at all. I work in the garden because it's fun and I need food, but it's not fun. Fun. Some people go, they just love working in their garden. It's refreshing to them. I don't understand that language, but they do. And so on Sabbath, they go out and they work in their garden and what do they do? They stop they're refreshed. And they delight in what God has done
Speaker 1 00:41:09 In their garden. You see
Speaker 0 00:41:12 Work on your car. Oh, you can work on your car, on the Sabbath. But as long as you stop and you're refreshed and you're delighting in what God has done for me, I love standing in the stream, looking at
Speaker 1 00:41:23 For trout. I stop. I'm refreshed. And I, I
Speaker 0 00:41:28 Got to tell you, I delight in God's creation
Speaker 1 00:41:32 And let tell you I don't fish in Illinois.
Speaker 0 00:41:34 If that helps where you didn't know where I'm coming from.
Speaker 1 00:41:40 If you enjoy something, enjoy it. Knowing God has given it to you to enjoy. If it refreshes you, be refreshed in it, it should be
Speaker 0 00:41:50 Done to the Lord. It should refresh your body. It should be done to bless others through you. Whatever you're doing on your Sabbath needs to meet the criteria of stopping, refresh, refreshing, and delighting.
Speaker 1 00:42:05 God, enjoy the life that God has given to you. Finally,
Speaker 0 00:42:09 Some space to enjoy it. Extroverts like Michael, over at, uh, Bartlett. His idea of, of refreshment is to get together with a crowd of people I'm just gone. Nope. That's no, not really. That just kind of exhausts me, you know, but yet there's other people that I work with and they they're more introverts. They go, ah, I gotta be alone. Well, that's fine. But I don't like being alone that much either. Unless I'm standing in a stream with a bunch of trout around
Speaker 1 00:42:35 My feet, whatever
Speaker 0 00:42:38 It is that God is baked into your DNA to love and appreciate. That brings you refreshment and enjoyment that causes you to delight in the Lord. You should do it.
Speaker 1 00:42:47 Your Sabbath.
Speaker 0 00:42:50 You should take time aside to do it because if it focuses your mind on God, you should do it as often as you can.
Speaker 1 00:42:58 As often as you can work is a good thing. And so is rest God.
Speaker 0 00:43:06 If a man doesn't work, he shouldn't eat. Work is a good thing, but rest is a good thing as well. Even Jesus
Speaker 1 00:43:14 Got away from the crowds to be alone with God, even Jesus. When John
Speaker 0 00:43:23 Just died and his disciples came to tell him, Jesus tried to get away. You can read this on the gospel. And almost every gospel includes this story.
Speaker 1 00:43:34 As a human
Speaker 0 00:43:34 Part of him was broken. He knew this was going to happen as the God part of him controlled all things, but the human part of him is breaking
Speaker 1 00:43:43 And he just wants
Speaker 0 00:43:44 To get away. But it's then that 5,000 people show up and they say, we just want to be taught. Can you imagine 5,000 people showing up when you just need a break? Jesus, doesn't take a break. You know what he does? He teaches the people. He teaches them so long, their pot roast get burned at home. They don't go home. They just want more. And so they say, we're hungry. And Jesus says, Oh, more of this. No, he does it. The disciples did though, the disciples said, send them away. We've had enough of people. Jesus said, no, they need to be fed. Life is not about our needs. Life is about the needs of others. Life is not about mine. Need to get away and as hard as breaking the whole time. So he ends up doing this amazing miracle, feeding 5,000 with a couple of fish and some loaves.
Speaker 1 00:44:30 And do you know what? He immediately, after that, he gets away by himself into a mountain to pray. And he prays deep into the night if Jesus needed a break church. So do we, it is baked into our DNA. Sabbath times can be flexible. Sunday is built
Speaker 0 00:44:52 No most people's weeks. It's an automatic provision so that they can worship. It's a silver platter for us to get together and worship on Sunday. But sometimes I get so busy on Sunday. I don't feel like I had a Sabbath. So I take some other time off during the week. You may not be able to do that. Take an afternoon off, take a break. And listen, I work with people that are working themselves to the bone. And I asked them this week, how busy are you? And they say, I'm so busy. I can't think straight. And I asked him next week, how busy are you? And they say, I'm so busy. I can't think straight. And I asked him a month from now. I said, how busy are you? They say he's up so busy. I can't think straight. And I'm thinking to myself, your solution might be just as near as you just need to take a break and refocus
Speaker 1 00:45:36 Because work will always be a part of our lives. But God wants a piece of our week. Calvin says Sabbath.
Speaker 0 00:45:46 John Calvin says, Sabbath is a high tower. We climb up into to survey the terrain of our lives and remember how good God
Speaker 1 00:45:52 Has been to us. Do you like that? Sabbath is the high tower,
Speaker 0 00:45:58 Our lives that we climb up to and we survey the train of our
Speaker 1 00:46:01 Lives and see what God has been up to stop for fresh and delight
Speaker 0 00:46:07 Church. You don't have to keep a day. Jesus is our Sabbath. He has fulfilled this. We will not be judged for not keeping a day is keeping the Sabbath, uh, a sin. No, but it's
Speaker 1 00:46:18 Just not smart. Consider
Speaker 0 00:46:23 Whether you would really be more reflective or less reflective of the reality of God in you and around you. If you decided to take a break,
Speaker 1 00:46:33 Can you imagine a home where the husband fights for the wife to have a mini Sabbath? Can you imagine this is a family,
Speaker 0 00:46:41 The pattern for us to fight for listen, you know, homes where there's nothing but work. It sucks the life out of the whole family,
Speaker 1 00:46:52 But when one
Speaker 0 00:46:52 Person decides to keep this, it blesses the rest of the family. So find a Sabbath, find a mini Sabbath, find six hours a week, find some period of time
Speaker 1 00:47:03 So that you can stop so that you can refresh. And so you can delight in the Lord Lord rest with
Speaker 0 00:47:11 Turn off the phone, stretch out on the couch, get alone with golf. God play a round of golf. Get with your kids and your wrestle for them with a little with them for a little bit, take your daughter on a date. And that's for me. Walk in the garden, go along for a long walk with your spouse. Spend time aside for prayer and reading of God's word, or just go stand in the stream and find some Browns,
Speaker 1 00:47:35 Trout, do it with somebody else. Just be for one day. Remember this is the life that God has given to us. This
Speaker 0 00:47:48 Life has given to us so that we can enjoy it. And there's much more
Speaker 1 00:47:52 To come. Church Sabbath
Speaker 0 00:47:54 Is, is, is everything we've talked about. But even more than that, it is a reminder that we get to be in eternity with Jesus forever and ever. Amen.
Speaker 1 00:48:05 The eternal Sabbath friend of mine just went to be with Jesus this week. Good.
Speaker 0 00:48:11 Some of you actually have blessed him by sending gifts to him. You've never met him. He's in Canada. Tim is
Speaker 1 00:48:19 We have actually,
Speaker 0 00:48:20 We send him gifts every once in a while. He's been struggling with cancer for the last five years,
Speaker 1 00:48:23 Six years. His body finally gave in this past week, Kim
Speaker 0 00:48:30 Lord, Oh man, this guy loved the Lord. He would go to, he would go to Starbucks. And if you were fortunate enough to be at Starbucks, when Tim was there, he would pull out the chair for you to sit down at the table. And he'd talk about G
Speaker 1 00:48:40 Jesus with you. Tim loved the Lord. I have no doubt
Speaker 0 00:48:45 In my mind that Tim closed his eyes here and
Speaker 1 00:48:47 Opened them immediately to see as savior. My dad who loved him like a son, all of them,
Speaker 0 00:48:56 People who have gone before and Kim has realized
Speaker 1 00:48:59 Is an eternal Sabbath because Jesus has done all the work necessary for our salvation. And we get to enjoy Sabbath because of him. Isn't that a great promise
Speaker 0 00:49:17 Doubt in my mind that when Tim entered into that period of time, that's why we call it. He has entered in
Speaker 1 00:49:23 To his rest. That is a direct connection to Sabbath. Now we can have, you know, now we can have a little bit of heaven here as we wait for a lot of heaven to come. When we take a time every week to spend with Jesus rest with purpose, stop, refresh, delight. Let's pray. Father,
Speaker 0 00:49:54 The God is we have explored a little bit of our
Speaker 1 00:49:58 DNA. The way that you have made us to function as we've come
Speaker 0 00:50:04 On the Sinai and realized this fourth command for Sabbath is something you need to explain to us because it's not something we naturally trip over and understand in life. We need this explanation.
Speaker 1 00:50:14 Thank you for giving us examples
Speaker 0 00:50:17 All the way from the beginning of time from creation, where you took a break and spent the first day enjoying
Speaker 1 00:50:23 Adam and Adam enjoying you. Thank you. You told us about the Sabbath
Speaker 0 00:50:29 And you counted very important for
Speaker 1 00:50:31 Israel to keep it because it was a celebration of their newness of being your people. A reminder that they didn't have to lift one finger to receive the greatest blessings of their lives. And thank you that Jesus came and now teaches us as the church Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath. In other words, we need a break so that we can stop. We can refresh and delight in you. So father, however you want this to land in our hearts. I pray that you would do so in a powerful but gentle way. And maybe because from this message new habits to develop so that we can focus our lives. Once again, intentionally on what really matters. Not as you, I pray in Jesus name, amen.
Speaker 0 00:51:24 We come to communion. We do this at the end of every service. If you're home, we would encourage you to grab something from your pantry, a Cracker
Speaker 1 00:51:34 Goldfish, or what, whatever you have laying around and, and a drink of juice.
Speaker 0 00:51:40 When you read in scripture, there's nothing supernatural that happens to this thing. There's nothing supernatural about what we take here. What you take at home. It's not the elements that makes a difference. There's no molecular change in what we take. This is simply a reminder to us of what Jesus did
Speaker 1 00:51:57 In order to secure our redemption. Jesus came
Speaker 0 00:52:00 Emmanuel God with us. Jesus,
Speaker 1 00:52:03 God came to us. And when he came to us, he lived the perfect life so that he could die on the cross raised from the dead. And so that he could
Speaker 0 00:52:13 Be security, that we will have our eternal
Speaker 1 00:52:16 Sabbath with him. We drank the juice
Speaker 0 00:52:20 Because it represents the blood that flowed out of Jesus Christ. We eat the bread because it represents the body
Speaker 1 00:52:25 That was pierced with nails and a sword. We do this,
Speaker 0 00:52:30 Not because it's a magical moment that somehow become something more than it is, but we do this because it reminds us of what we need.
Speaker 1 00:52:41 Well, our sin demanded our sin demanded a sacrifice, and that was Jesus Christ who voluntarily offered himself so that we could be saved. So
Speaker 0 00:52:52 Grab what you have because it is a Memorial
Speaker 1 00:52:55 Mind or to us of what it takes to secure our redemption. If you don't have those
Speaker 0 00:53:01 Eggs at home, grab them right now real quick. For those of you that are in house, there's a table up front. We're going to sing a song. If you just walk up to the table, uh, just in your, in your groups, grab the, um, cup, you'll find the Cracker on top, the juices on the bottom. Hopefully it's not too difficult for you to tear away. It's a little challenging,
Speaker 1 00:53:21 Give it a shot, uh, and
Speaker 0 00:53:23 Grab it, hang on to it. Don't open it yet. We're going to sing. And then I'm going to come up. I'm going to read a scripture passage together and we're going to eat and drink together. We do that because it's a reminder that I need salvation and redemption. Just as much
Speaker 1 00:53:35 As you do, we are all equal here. And so each one of us has got
Speaker 0 00:53:41 Participated in this together, confessing that we all need Jesus blood in his body in order to be right with God.
Speaker 1 00:53:50 Before we do any of that,
Speaker 0 00:53:52 I want to encourage you to just take a moment of silence, whether you're at home or here in the house. And if you just take a moment of silence and you had, and this is what I encourage you to do today, would you just pray to God and whatever he has laid on your heart through this message. If it's, if it's confession time, something in your mind that has popped in there and you got to make that right with God for God's sake
Speaker 1 00:54:12 That first. But if God is laying
Speaker 0 00:54:16 Something else on your heart, a decision you need to make, maybe maybe a commitment to say some time aside for Jesus Christ,
Speaker 1 00:54:27 Intentional resting with purpose. Maybe you need to do that as well, this morning, whatever you need
Speaker 0 00:54:34 To do with God. Now this is your moment with him. Band's going to come up and then we're going to sing together and take communion together, which is to spend some time praying to God.
