A God who Speaks: The Fourth Commandment

Let us pray.

Father, we thank you for gathering us here together this morning in the name of Jesus.

And we ask for the help of your Holy Spirit,

that the unfolding of your word would give light,

and that by walking in that light that you give us,

we would have true fellowship with you, our Father,

and with your Son, Jesus, and with one another.

These things we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Please be seated.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden,

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,

for I am gentle and lowly in heart,

and you will find rest for your souls,

for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

These are the words of Jesus.

Come to me, he said.

And who was it who receives this great invitation?

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden.

All.

None are excluded from this universal invitation,

this universal call from the lips of the Lord Jesus.

All are invited to come.

All who labor.

All who are heavy laden.

There are probably some here this morning who labor

and are heavy laden.

Some here this morning who would be glad to have rest

for their souls.

It could be that you've never responded to this invitation before.

You're living your life for number one.

But that's quickly growing old.

You're tired of running from one thing to another

in pursuit of pleasure and of beautiful things.

You're tired of the feeling of emptiness

and meaninglessness and aimlessness

that gnaws away at your heart,

especially when you're quiet and alone.

Or maybe at some point in the past,

you have turned to Christ.

You've accepted.

You've heard that invitation to come to me

and you've turned to him

and you've come to him.

And there was joy and delight

and refreshment for your souls.

But somehow,

in the months and years that have passed,

old sinful patterns and habits have crept back in.

They've stolen away your sense,

your awareness,

your experience of the peace

and the joy

and the rest in the Lord that you once knew.

Old ways of thinking

and acting and speaking

that quench and grieve

and resist the Holy Spirit

have taken root in your life again

and you feel cut off

from the power

and the presence of the Lord.

Perhaps that's you.

Perhaps you even despair of your salvation

or have come to believe

that now it's all up to you.

You began by grace

but now

you feel like you're dragging yourself

toward the kingdom of heaven

entirely under your own power

and you're not at all sure

that you're going to make it.

You're worn out from the roller coaster

of good days and bad days.

Or perhaps you've been living your life faithfully

as a disciple of the Lord Jesus

in this world

but you're being battered

and bruised

by the blows that inevitably will come.

You've been bereaved

of the ones you love

facing sickness

and trials

of various kinds

tempted

and tested

day after day

by temptation

after temptation

enduring perhaps

the scorn

of this world.

Come to me

all who labor

and are heavy laden

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you

and learn from me

for I am gentle

and lowly in heart

and you will find rest

for your souls.

This is the invitation

of the Lord Jesus

given to all

and it's given to you.

And it is this same invitation

that is at the heart

of the fourth commandment

that we had read this morning.

Remember the Sabbath day

to keep it holy.

Six days you shall labor

and do all your work

but the seventh day

is the Sabbath.

of the Lord your God

in it you shall do

no work

you nor your son

nor your daughter

nor your male servant

nor your female servant

nor your cattle

nor your stranger

who is within your gates.

for the Old Testament

people of Israel

the central thrust

of this commandment

then was that

they were to set aside

one day in seven

the seventh day

as a day of rest.

A day that was set apart

to God

and made holy

and on that day

they were to do

no unnecessary work

not themselves

nor those under

their authority

nor even the animals

that were in their care

the beasts of burden

all were to have

a day of rest.

And God provided

two different reasons

why he gave his people

this rule.

In the two different versions

of the Ten Commandments

you see the two different reasons.

The first

which we didn't have read

is from Exodus chapter 20

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

and God points the people

back to the very act

of creation.

He says

in six days

the Lord made the heavens

and the earth

the sea

and all that is in them

and rested the seventh day.

Therefore the Lord

blessed the Sabbath day

and made it holy.

So in a sense

to keep the Sabbath

was for the creature

for human beings

you and me

who have been made

in the image of God

to imitate

the creator.

God established

a precedent

in his great work

of creation

by working for six days

and resting on the seventh.

And he sets an example

in that way

for his people to follow.

But in Deuteronomy

which Jason read

this morning

the reason was different

and surprising

and I wonder

if you noticed

what it was.

in Deuteronomy

the people

were reminded

of the great event

of God rescuing them

from slavery

in Egypt

of bringing them

out of bondage

to become

his own special people.

People to whom

he freely bound himself

by a covenant relationship.

I will be your God

and you will be my people.

I invite you

to turn it open

and take a look

at Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5.

In your pew Bibles

it's on page 161.

Page 161.

And we'll just look

at verse 15.

He's given the rules

of the Sabbath day

and then in verse 15

he says

God says

and remember

that you were a slave

in the land of Egypt

and that the Lord

your God

brought you out

from there

by a mighty hand

and by an outstretched arm.

Therefore the Lord

your God

commanded you

to keep the Sabbath day.

What's the connection?

you might ask.

How does it logically flow

that the fact

that he rescued

his people

from slavery

and made them

his people

would lead him

to give them

this law

that they are to rest

one day out of seven

on the seventh day.

How does that follow?

Well, in fact

there are some

other surprising things

that the Old Testament

says about the Sabbath.

In fact

there are

for example

there are several passages

that give

an importance

to keeping

the Sabbath

that seems

entirely out of proportion

with the nature

of the commandment.

It's sometimes

implied that the Sabbath

is in some way

above

or apart

from the rest

of the law.

For example

in Nehemiah

it's written

you made known

to our fathers

your holy Sabbath

and commanded them

precepts,

statutes,

and laws.

You made known

your Sabbath

and

all these other laws.

and you also

come across

certain passages

that give you

the impression

that if you

fail to keep

the Sabbath

regardless

of what else

might happen

in your life

you overturn

your entire

relationship

with God.

Listen to what

God says

through the prophet

Jeremiah

but if you

do not

listen to me

to keep

the Sabbath

day holy

such as

not carrying

a burden

when entering

the gates

of Jerusalem

on the Sabbath

day

then I will

kindle a fire

in its gates

and it shall

devour

the palaces

of Jerusalem

and it shall

not be quenched.

Does that

surprise you?

Does that

seem maybe

a bit

excessive

or over

the top

or even

arbitrary?

I mean we

might understand

that God

would say

something like

that for

example about

murder.

You can say

and do what

you will

but if you

murder an

innocent person

our relationship

is terminated

and you will

face my

judgment.

And we might

say well I

can understand

that but he

says this about

keeping the

Sabbath.

And far

be it

from me

and from

us to

imply that

God is

in any

way capricious

or arbitrary

or unjust

shall not

the judge

of all the

earth do

right?

Abraham

once asked

and he

shall

indeed.

He is

righteous

in all

his works

and he's

just in

all his

dealings

with people.

So how

then are we

to understand

this great

importance

that he

lays on

the Sabbath

in the

Old Testament?

Well we've

already seen

a pointer

toward the

answer in

that surprising

verse in

Deuteronomy

15 that

God makes

a connection

between observing

the Sabbath

and the fact

that he

rescued his

people.

But there

are other

passages that

will spell

it out for

us even

more plainly.

So I

invite you

to turn

with me

to a

second

verse

in

Exodus

Exodus 31 · chapter mention

chapter

31.

It's on

page 76

in your

pew Bible.

Exodus

Exodus 31 · chapter mention

chapter 31

in verse

13.

We'll just

read,

well I'll

begin at

verse 12.

And the

Lord spoke

to Moses

saying,

Speak also

to the

children of

Israel,

saying,

Surely my

Sabbaths you

shall keep,

for it is a

sign between

me and you

throughout your

generations that

you may know

that I am the

Lord who

sanctifies you.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Here we have

God explaining

to Moses

why the

Sabbath is so

critical in

his eyes.

He says,

It's a sign

between you

and me

throughout your

generations that

you may know

that I am

the Lord who

sanctifies you.

That is to say,

he is the one

who sets apart

his people for

himself,

who makes them

his own special

people,

devoted to

himself.

And this is

the primary

purpose of

the Sabbath

commandment.

It is to

represent to

God's people

the source

of true

spiritual

rest,

allowing God

and God

alone to

work in

us.

Just as it

was God

alone who

acted to

rescue his

people Israel

out of

Egypt and

they had

nothing to

contribute to

it.

He inflicted

the plagues,

he parted the

sea, he

brought his

people out

and they

simply entered

into what he

had done.

So it is by

God's grace

alone,

by his

powerful work

alone that he

sets us

apart to be

his people.

people.

And so the

Sabbath was

for the

people of

Israel like

a sacrament.

It was a

sign, just

like baptism

is a sign

of being

washed of

sins, of

dying to an

old way of

life, and

being born to

a new life,

a life to

God.

it's an

outward and

visible sign

that communicates

an inward and

spiritual reality.

Just like the

Lord's Supper,

which represents

to us Christ's

death on the

cross as a

sacrifice to

take away our

sins, that we

receive simply

by trusting in

him.

in the same

way, outwardly

observing the

Sabbath

represented an

inward reality,

namely that we

must

put all our

trust, put

away all our

own work, our

sinful practices,

our selfish

interests, the

cares and

concerns of

this life, even

our own efforts

to make

ourselves right

with God.

We put all

that aside so

that we can be

wholly at

rest and allow

God to work

within us, to

cease our

strivings and

to rest our

hearts in

him alone.

The

Sabbath is a

sign to God's

people that God

works in us to

make us his

own, and

that we must

rest in him.

And what's

more, the

Sabbath is a

foreshadowing.

It's a

foreshadowing.

It was a

ceremonial

observance of

a day, but

it pointed to

something beyond

itself that was

far greater.

It pointed to

someone who

was far

greater, the

Lord Jesus

himself.

Jesus is the

true fulfillment

of the

Sabbath.

All that the

Sabbath signified

is represented

in him, because

it's only when we

despair of all

our own ways of

making ourselves

right with God,

it's only when we

come to know that

on our own, we

are sinful

people, and

we're guilty

before a holy

God.

When we answer

Jesus' invitation

to come to

me, all who

labor and are

heavy laden, and

I will give you

rest, when we

cast ourselves on

the mercy of the

Savior alone,

that's when we

become God's

people.

That's when we

are sanctified,

when we are set

apart as his

people for

himself.

So when we

look to the

cross, and

when we hear

Jesus' words

from the cross,

it is finished.

We know that

all that was

necessary for

us to make

ourselves right

with him is

finished, and

we trust in his

finished work as

our only hope.

We contribute

nothing of our

own to making

ourselves right

with God, just

as Israel

contributed nothing

to making

themselves free

of bondage and

slavery.

It is God who

works in us.

It's God who

touches our

hearts and does

a work of

grace, a

miracle, who

gives us a new

heart and a

new beginning and

a new relationship

with him and

with one another.

I'll be your

God, and you

shall be my

people.

This is the

reality to

which the

Sabbath was a

pointer.

character.

This is the

substance of

which the

Sabbath was a

shadow.

And with that, I

ask you to turn

with me to one

final Bible

passage, this

time in the New

Testament.

It's in

Colossians,

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2.

It's on page

1020 in your

pew Bible.

if you have

your own Bible,

Colossians 2,

16 and 17.

Therefore, let no

one judge you in

food or in

drink or

regarding a

festival or a

new moon or

Sabbaths, which

are but a

shadow of things

to come, but

the substance is

of Christ.

Now that

Christ has

come, the

ceremonial

Sabbath has

been done away

with.

What need is

there for

shadows when

the substance

is here?

Jesus is the

true fulfillment

of the

Sabbath, and

in his presence

all the shadows

are left far

behind.

So does this

mean that now

there are only

nine commandments

that as

Christians we

no longer

observe the

Sabbath?

No, on the

contrary, far

from it.

There are ten

commandments, and

we fulfill them

all, but in the

case of the

Sabbath law, now

that the true

meaning and

application of

the Sabbath, of

this commandment

that God gave

his people

Israel, has

been revealed

in Jesus.

We no longer

observe it in

the way that the

people of Israel

did under the

Old Testament.

For us, the

reality of the

Sabbath is not

confined to

one day in

seven, but it

is our everyday

lived experience.

It has become

our everyday

life.

Sabbath.

The Sabbath now

extends through

the whole course

of our life, and

it shall be

completely fulfilled

and perfected in

that day of the

Lord when Jesus

will return, and

we will fully and

finally enter into

and experience the

rest of our souls,

the rest from our

labors in him.

As it says in the

letter to the

Hebrews, there

remains a Sabbath

rest for the people

of God.

And so until

then, we do keep

the Sabbath.

We keep the

Sabbath by daily

reminding ourselves

of Christ's

finished work on

the cross.

We keep the

Sabbath by clinging

day by day to

Christ alone as

the basis for our

being God's

people.

people rescued

from slavery, not

to Egypt, but to

sin.

And we keep the

Sabbath by day by

day setting our

minds on the

goal, on the

ultimate fulfillment

of the Sabbath, and

the rest for our

souls that we will

enter into in its

final consummation.

These are the ways

that we as

followers of Christ

observe the

Sabbath law today.

And let me

suggest to you that

we need to be

careful how we

think about what

we do on Sunday,

the Lord's day,

the first day of

the week.

It's important that

we do not regard

the Lord's day as

identical to the

Old Testament

Sabbath that has

merely been

transferred from

the seventh day to

the first day of

the week.

week.

This may be

different from what

you have heard or

read in some books

or sermons, I'll

grant you.

But let me state

again, we must not

regard the Lord's

day, Sunday, as

simply the Old

Testament Sabbath that

has been transferred

to the first day of

the week.

There is simply no

New Testament

basis for this

type of thinking

about the Lord's

day.

There are

plausible arguments

that you might

hear for doing

this, but there is

not a single

verse of direct

biblical basis for

doing it.

Now, with your

goodwill, I don't

know what you're

thinking right now,

but with your

goodwill, let me

make two points

about this before

we conclude, if

you'll hear me

out.

because firstly,

although the

central purpose of

the Sabbath, as

we've seen, was to

signify spiritual

rest to the people

of God, there are

two other significant

purposes as well, why

God instituted the

Sabbath.

And one was that it

was a day to

assemble, a day to

gather together as

God's people, to

hear his word

written, to offer

sacrifices to him,

perhaps, to meet

with others of

God's people in a

holy assembly.

And this dimension

of the Sabbath law

does not need to be

relegated as a

shadow to distant

times past, but it

can be carried over

into the age of the

church with minimal

change.

It remains necessary

for the good order

of the church that we

meet together, that

we not forsake

gathering to meet

together for the

hearing of the word,

for the breaking of

bread, and for

the prayers.

And from the

earliest days of

the church, the

major day that has

been set aside for

this has been

Sunday, the

Lord's Day.

I suggest that

that's probably to

avoid the Sabbath

associations if

they'd continue to

meet on the

seventh day, as

well as to

commemorate the

day of the

Lord's resurrection.

And so that's

the pattern in

this church.

And in virtually

all the churches

of the world, they

meet together on

Sunday.

Now, if you

desire and

you're able to

set aside the

entire Lord's

Day for spiritual

purposes, to

pray and to

read and to

meditate on God's

word and to

enjoy fellowship

with other

believers, you

are most free to

do so.

And I don't

doubt that it

would be much to

the health of

your souls if

you did that, to

celebrate the

Lord's Day in

that way.

But, as the

Apostle Paul says

in Romans chapter

Romans 14 · chapter mention

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.

And for the

rest of you who

do not follow such

a practice of the

Lord's Day, well,

I put it to you that

you should do

everything in your

power to avoid

having to work on

Sunday morning so

that you can gather

with your brothers

and sisters in

Christ as the

people of God.

But we lay on you

no greater burden

than this.

And no one

ought to think

that the first

day of the week

is inherently

in some way

mystical or

holy, or that

by doing some

sort of work or

other activity,

you or someone

else is committing

a sin against

God.

It's that sort

of distinction

of days that

obscures the

gospel of

Christ, the

glory of Christ

and the light of

the gospel that

we saw in the

fulfillment of the

Sabbath in him.

It was this kind

of thinking that

led Paul to tell

the Galatians that

he was afraid he

might have labored

over them in vain,

for they still

observed the

days.

Secondly, then,

in addition to a

day to gather,

the Sabbath was

also given as a

day of physical

rest.

Simply that.

And here also we

see God's special

care for the

powerless, for the

people who don't

have a voice, for

the weak in

society.

Because he's

explicit in the

Sabbath that it

applies no less to

the servants, no

less to the alien,

no less to the

refugee seeking

shelter than it

does to the

master.

Even the animals

are to be given a

day of rest.

So simply, it's not

good.

It's not good for

you to work seven

days out of seven,

week in and week

out.

There's probably

some among you who

have done that,

maybe for years, and

you know that it's

hard on you.

But it's even worse

for you to force

those who are under

your authority to

work without rest.

It's far better to

follow the creator's

pattern, to work

six and rest one.

And you must not

inhumanly oppress

those who are under

you.

And so to sum up,

the Sabbath law was

given to the people

of Israel as a

shadow, as a sign.

But the truth has

now been set before

us without shadows,

in the person of

Jesus Christ.

And so we are to

meditate throughout

life upon this

everlasting Sabbath

rest for our

souls, that the

Lord may work in

us through his

spirit.

Come to me, all

who labor and are

heavy laden, and I

will give you rest.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.