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The Importance Of Keeping The Christian Sabbath (Exodus 35:1-3)
Introduction
Our text for tonight's message is taken from Exodus 35:1-3. From Exodus 35:4, God will repeat the commandments he had given to the children of Israel regarding his laws and the building of the tabernacle. The reason why God would repeat what he had already said was because the children of Israel had totally forgotten his commandments and needed to be reminded.
They had just committed the great sin of worshipping the golden calf. Essentially, they were using the golden calf to represent God, even though he had already commanded them not to make graven images. In other words, they were trying to worship the right God in the wrong way.
Later on, they would enter the promised land. And if they had committed this great sin of worshipping the right God in the wrong way while in the wilderness, how much more when they encounter the pagans who were now living in the land of Canaan. So as they enter the promised land, surely they will commit the same sin. So God had to focus on how they ought to worship him.
In the previous chapter, he spoke about the three special feasts that the children of Israel ought to keep in a year: the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of the Ingathering, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles. These three special feasts were part of the ceremonial laws, and they had been fulfilled by our Lord Jesus Christ, who became the sacrificial Lamb and died on the cross of Calvary. So, we no longer keep them today.
But there was something else there that would continue perpetually, and that is the Sabbath. With the resurrection of Christ, we no longer call it the Sabbath, but the Christian Sabbath, or the Lord's Day. The Lord’s Day worship will continue even beyond the second coming of Christ and the millennial kingdom, which means the worship of God will never come to an end. Even in heaven we will still be worshipping God.
That is the reason why, in verse one, when Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together and said unto them, “These are the words which the Lord had commanded that ye should do them". He began with the Sabbath. This is what we want to learn from today's passage. The title of our message is ‘The Importance Of Keeping the Christian Sabbath’.
I. It Is Permanent
Our first point is it is permanent. Although this passage does not mention anything about the permanence of the Sabbath, however, we have to read it in the context of the entire Holy Scriptures.
Today there are some people who believe that the Sabbath is only a ceremonial law and it has passed away just like the other ceremonial laws after the resurrection of Christ. Therefore, it is no longer applicable. Because of that, they refuse to attend church on Sundays. How sad.
Firstly, for those people who say that the Sabbath is only a Mosaic ceremonial law, they fail to realize that the Sabbath was instituted even before the law of God was given. When God gave the Ten Commandments, he said, “Remember the Sabbath day,” and he gave the basis why they should do it. Exodus 20:11 says, “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
This can be found in the first book of the Bible, Genesis 2:3. In other words, the institution of the Sabbath was even way before the law of God was given. God worked through a creation week: six days of labor, and on the seventh day he rested. At the time of creation, God had already set the management of human time on the week of seven days.
The seven-day week was not the invention of men. It was not instituted by the church. It did not come about because of parliament. Throughout the history of mankind, there were occasions whereby various nations tried different divisions of time. But all that did not work out. Why? Because at the very beginning of the world, God had already laid the seven days—six days of labor and one day of rest. God himself set the pattern in creation. And in setting the pattern, he instituted the Sabbath.
Remember in Exodus 16, we learned about the manna that came down from heaven. This was also before the giving of the law. Through Moses, God set the rules on how the children of Israel ought to collect the manna. They must gather the manna every day, fresh every morning. If they tried to gather more, by the next day it would rot, stink, and breed worms. So they had to do it every day.
But it is interesting that when it came to the seventh day, Moses said to the people, “You are not to gather anything because on the sixth day you are to gather twice as much manna, and God will preserve it.” Why was this specific command given? Because of the Sabbath. The children of Israel were familiar with the creation week. They were familiar with the collection of manna. So they were commanded to remember the Sabbath.
How could they remember something unless they had heard about it before, right? So they already knew about the Sabbath even before they arrived at Mount Sinai. So, for those people who believe that the Sabbath is only a Mosaic ceremonial law, they are greatly deceived. Even before Moses, the Sabbath was already instituted.
A moment ago, we just commented that the Sabbath would continue perpetually. Where does the Bible say so? Isaiah 66:22 says, “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.”
“One new moon to another” is a reference to the monthly coming together in worship. And Isaiah the prophet said, “from one Sabbath to another they are going to come and worship.” So the Sabbath will continue even beyond the Millennial Kingdom and onto the new heavens and the new earth, where all the believers will live forever and ever. That is why we say it would be perpetual.
Now the next question is why are we 13:49 - keeping the Sabbath day 13:51 - on Sunday, the first day of the week 13:56 - according to the Jewish calendar instead 13:59 - of Saturday. 14:02 - Well, the resurrection of Christ has 14:05 - transformed the weekly Sabbath. 14:09 - It is no longer the seventh day but the 14:13 - first day. 14:16 - It is no longer called the Sabbath day, 14:22 - but the Lord's day. 14:25 - And it is no longer just remembering the 14:28 - creation of God, but to commemorate the 14:33 - resurrection of Jesus Christ. 14:37 - Today you and I keep the Christian 14:39 - Sabbath on Sunday 14:42 - because Christ had accomplished the 14:46 - greater redemption by dying for our sins 14:50 - on the cross 14:52 - and on the third day he rose again from 14:56 - the dead. 14:58 - BB Warfield the theologian said Christ 15:02 - took the Sabbath into the grave with him 15:07 - and he brought the Lord's day out of the 15:11 - grave on the resurrection morning. 15:16 - That is the reason why the New Testament 15:19 - records 15:21 - all the significant events that happened 15:25 - on the first day of the week.
Let me briefly give you some examples. 15:34 - The Lord Jesus was risen on the first 15:37 - day of the week. He met his disciples on 15:42 - the first day of the week. 15:45 - When he poured out his spirit at 15:48 - Pentecost, 15:50 - it was on the first day of the week. 15:55 - The New Testament church met on the 15:57 - first day of the week. 16:01 - When Paul was at Throwaz, he went to 16:04 - church on the first day of the week. 16:09 - when he wrote to the Corinthians in 1 16:12 - Corinthians 16:2, he said, "Upon the 16:16 - first day of the week, 16:20 - let every one of you lay by him in 16:23 - store, as God hath prospered him, that 16:28 - there be no gatherings when I come." 16:33 - So the apostles had given to us a clear 16:36 - pattern that the New Testament church 16:41 - met on the first day of the week to 16:45 - worship God. 16:48 - But most importantly, 16:51 - Revelation 1 verse 10 calls this special 16:55 - day 16:56 - the Lord's day. 17:00 - The Apostle John said, "I was in the 17:03 - spirit on the Lord's day 17:07 - and heard behind me a great voice as of 17:11 - a trumpet, saying, "I am Alpha and 17:14 - Omega, the first and the last." 17:20 - In the Old Testament, God calls the 17:23 - Sabbath my day. 17:26 - And now he calls it the Lord's day. 17:33 - There are only two things in the New 17:35 - Testament that are said to be the 17:38 - Lord's. 17:41 - One is the Lord's table 17:45 - and the other 17:47 - is the Lord's day. 17:51 - In other words, the Lord Jesus is 17:55 - putting his own stamp on the first day 17:59 - of the week, Sunday, 18:03 - as the Christian Sabbath. 18:07 - Today, we keep the Sabbath because it is 18:11 - permanent. 18:13 - it is still applicable to us 18:16 - and we call it the Lord's day.
II. It Is A Delight
Our second point is 18:25 - it is a delight. 18:27 - Look at verse two. 18:30 - Six days shall work be done, but on the 18:33 - seventh day there shall be to you an 18:36 - holy day a Sabbath of rest to the Lord. 18:40 - Whosoever doeth work therein shall be 18:44 - put to death. 18:47 - Notice the phrase six days shall work be 18:51 - done. 18:53 - This is one part of the commandment that 18:56 - has often been overlooked 18:58 - and that is our duty to work. 19:04 - We always look at this command only as a 19:07 - command to rest. 19:10 - and we forget about our duty to work. 19:15 - This commandment also includes honoring 19:18 - God by doing an honest week's worth of 19:24 - work. 19:26 - You see, God is the creator 19:29 - and he governs our work as well as our 19:33 - rest. 19:36 - He has given us 19:39 - six days to fulfill our earthly duties 19:44 - and responsibilities 19:47 - and he wants us to rest on the seventh 19:52 - day. 19:55 - Do you realize that having six days to 19:59 - work is a divine concession? 20:04 - And it is a sign of God's grace. 20:08 - God could have demanded us to work 20:13 - every day, 20:15 - 24 hours a day, 20:18 - but instead he wants us to rest on the 20:23 - seventh. 20:25 - He is a gracious God. 20:29 - But many people look at the Sabbath as a 20:32 - cruel and burdensome day. 20:36 - We ought to admit that 20:39 - what the Pharisees had done to the 20:41 - Sabbath 20:42 - was burdensome. 20:45 - It was hypocritical. 20:48 - But that had nothing to do with God 20:50 - instituting 20:52 - the Sabbath day. 20:55 - The Pharisees had added extra biblical 20:59 - laws onto 21:02 - the Sabbath. 21:06 - For example, 21:09 - a woman 21:11 - should never look into the mirror on the 21:14 - Sabbath day, 21:16 - lest she sees a gray hair and be tempted 21:19 - to pull it out. If she does, 21:23 - it is considered working on the Sabbath. 21:28 - A man should not spit on the ground on 21:30 - the Sabbath day, 21:32 - lest his saliva 21:35 - stirs up the soil and it is considered 21:39 - plowing. 21:42 - Well, these were not the laws of the 21:45 - Sabbath. 21:47 - They were the extra biblical man-made 21:51 - foolish laws of the people. 21:55 - The Sabbath that God giveth to us is a 21:58 - divine gift. It is not burdensome. It is 22:02 - a delight. 22:06 - The Hebrew word for Sabbath means to 22:09 - rest. 22:12 - God wants us to rest and be refreshed.
If you have your Bibles, 22:20 - please turn with me to Exodus 31:17. 22:25 - The Bible says, "For in six days the 22:30 - Lord made heaven and earth, and on the 22:34 - seventh day he rested and was 22:38 - refreshed." 22:40 - The Hebrew word for refresh is very 22:42 - interesting. 22:44 - It means to breathe 22:48 - or to take a breath. 22:53 - If you and I were to express it in our 22:56 - modernday English, 22:59 - perhaps we would say to catch our 23:03 - breath. 23:06 - God has given us the Sabbath 23:10 - so that we would be able to stop 23:15 - and catch our breath. 23:20 - There are so many reasons why people do 23:22 - not want to rest on the seventh day. 23:27 - Well, the house needs repair. 23:31 - We are behind in our school assignments. 23:34 - We have a work project that is due 23:38 - or the company is paying double salary 23:41 - to work on Sundays 23:44 - and so forth. 23:46 - In a sense we are like running through 23:48 - life. We are dealing with all the 23:53 - businesses of life. 23:55 - We are carrying 23:57 - the burdens of our earthly 24:01 - responsibilities. 24:03 - And after six days of hard work, 24:09 - our heavenly father who loves us, he 24:13 - says to us, "Stop my son. Stop my 24:17 - daughter 24:20 - and catch your breath." 24:24 - That is what it means to rest and be 24:27 - refreshed. 24:31 - Why did God say whosoever doeth work 24:35 - therein shall be put to death? 24:39 - Obviously to disobey God's commandment 24:42 - is a sin and the consequence is death. 24:46 - The sting of death is sin. 24:50 - But remember, the children of Israel 24:53 - would enter the promised land 24:56 - and they would be tempted to break the 24:59 - commandments of God. 25:02 - To worship God on the Sabbath 25:06 - is essentially to put God first before 25:10 - anything else. 25:12 - And if they fail to do that, 25:16 - then they can forget about keeping all 25:18 - the other commandments, 25:22 - if God is not 25:26 - the first place in their lives, 25:29 - do you think they would consider keeping 25:32 - all the other commandments? Most 25:35 - certainly not.
Therefore, 25:40 - some theologians believe that this is 25:43 - the reason why God would stress this 25:46 - serious consequence of the death 25:49 - penalty. 25:52 - Verse three, ye shall kindle no fire 25:57 - throughout your habitations upon the 26:00 - Sabbath day. 26:02 - Some Orthodox Jews would take this verse 26:06 - and amplify it. 26:10 - They would say that even the usage of 26:13 - electricity 26:15 - or any form of power like motor vehicles 26:19 - are forbidden. 26:22 - It does not mean that we are not allowed 26:25 - even to light the fire to keep ourselves 26:29 - warm during winter time and freeze to 26:33 - death. 26:34 - They are focusing on the letter and 26:37 - forget about the spirit behind the 26:40 - letter. 26:42 - Here the whole emphasis is about work. 26:46 - We 26:48 - are to rest and not work. 26:52 - That is the whole point. 26:56 - But what about those people who are 26:58 - required to work on the Lord's day? 27:02 - The Westminster larger catechism says 27:06 - except for the works of necessity 27:11 - and mercy. 27:13 - That principle is based on the New 27:15 - Testament's teachings. 27:19 - As Christians, 27:22 - we should not work on the Lord's day, 27:26 - but God made provisions 27:28 - for the works of necessity. 27:32 - for example, doctors, 27:35 - nurses, 27:37 - policemen, 27:40 - soldiers, 27:42 - firemen, 27:44 - and so forth. 27:48 - The gynecologist cannot tell his 27:51 - patients, 27:53 - "Please do not go into labor on Sundays 27:56 - because I cannot be working on the 27:58 - Lord's day." 28:00 - The fireman cannot say 28:03 - whether it is bush fire or house fire. 28:07 - Please do not call on Sundays 28:10 - because I cannot be working on the 28:12 - Lord's day. 28:14 - Those are works of necessity. 28:19 - God also make provisions for the works 28:22 - of mercy. 28:25 - For example, if a person is drowning, 28:29 - can you tell him that he must be left in 28:32 - the water until the Sabbath ends? Then 28:36 - rescue can come. 28:38 - Most certainly not. 28:41 - You try to save him immediately.
Our Lord Jesus performed many miracles 28:50 - on the Sabbath. 28:53 - He healed the sick, 28:56 - the lame, 28:58 - the deaf, 29:00 - dumb, and blind. He did not violate the 29:04 - Sabbath commandment. 29:08 - In fact, he was fulfilling the true 29:11 - purpose. 29:13 - And he said, "The Sabbath was not made 29:15 - for men, but man for the Sabbath. 29:20 - Therefore, the Son of Man is Lord also 29:24 - of the Sabbath. 29:28 - You and I should follow his example. 29:32 - Whenever we use the Lord's day to 29:36 - welcome the stranger, 29:40 - to open up our homes, 29:43 - to host the visitors, 29:47 - to feed the poor, 29:50 - or to visit the sick. 29:54 - Those are works of mercy. 29:59 - God also made provisions 30:02 - for the works of service. 30:05 - For example, just like the priests in 30:07 - the Old Testament who continue to 30:10 - minister 30:12 - on the Sabbath, 30:15 - today we have pastors and ministers who 30:18 - are serving in the church on the Lord's 30:21 - day. 30:23 - All these people who are engaged in the 30:26 - works of necessity, mercy and service, 30:32 - they should set aside another day of the 30:35 - week for rest 30:38 - and for public and private 30:42 - worship.
III. It Is A Holy Day
Our third and final point is it is a 30:50 - holy day. 30:53 - Notice the phrase, it is to you an holy 30:58 - day. 31:00 - So the Sabbath is not only a day of 31:02 - rest. 31:04 - We must also keep it holy. 31:07 - To keep the Sabbath day holy is to 31:09 - sanctify it, 31:11 - to set it apart. 31:16 - Every day we ought to worship God, 31:19 - but this is a special day set aside 31:25 - for the worship of God. 31:29 - The Westminster Confession of Faith 31:31 - says, "We should make it our delight to 31:35 - spend the whole time in public and 31:39 - private exercises of God's worship. 31:44 - In other words, 31:46 - we keep the Sabbath day holy 31:50 - by setting it apart for worship and for 31:54 - religious purposes. 31:59 - The Sabbath is not a time of laziness. 32:04 - Yes, it is 32:06 - to rest from work, 32:09 - but it is also a time of worship. 32:15 - That is why Leviticus 23:3 says, "The 32:19 - Sabbath is a holy convocation." 32:25 - A convocation is 32:28 - the gathering of God's people as a holy 32:33 - assembly 32:35 - to worship. 32:39 - The greatest example of someone 32:42 - worshiping on the Sabbath is none other 32:45 - than our Lord Jesus Christ himself. 32:51 - On one occasion in the Gospel of Luke, 32:54 - chapter 4, 32:56 - Jesus went into the synagogue 32:59 - on the Sabbath day. 33:01 - And it was his turn to read the 33:03 - scriptures. 33:05 - And he turned to the book of Isaiah. 33:08 - And he began to read it. 33:11 - And all the people were amazed.
Take a moment and consider this. 33:17 - If the eternal son of God 33:22 - entered into the synagogue 33:25 - on the Sabbath day to worship, 33:30 - are we better than him 33:33 - that we and I be found outside the 33:37 - church on the Lord's day? 33:41 - May the Lord forgive us and have mercy 33:44 - on us. 33:47 - So the Lord's day is for worship. 33:51 - It is a day for attending worship 33:53 - services, 33:55 - for singing hymns, 33:58 - for prayers, 34:01 - for enjoying fellowship with God's 34:03 - people, 34:06 - for catching up on our Bible reading, 34:10 - for honoring God with our tithes and 34:12 - offerings, 34:15 - for attending to spiritual things. 34:20 - If I may add this, 34:23 - in order for you and I to worship well, 34:29 - we must be prepared. 34:33 - Keeping the holy 34:36 - or keeping the Lord's day holy 34:40 - also means getting ready the night 34:45 - before.
Listen to the words of the Puritan 34:51 - Thomas Watson as he described the 34:55 - preparation of the heart for the Lord's 34:58 - day worship. This is what he said. 35:02 - When Saturday evening approaches, 35:06 - sound a retreat, 35:09 - call your minds off from the world and 35:13 - summon your thoughts together to think 35:17 - of the great work of the approaching 35:19 - day. 35:21 - Evening preparation 35:23 - will be like the tuning of an 35:25 - instrument. 35:27 - It will fit the heart better for the 35:30 - duties of the Lord's day. 35:34 - And on the Lord's day, we are refreshed 35:37 - to worship God by prayer and the 35:40 - ministry of the word 35:43 - by singing his praises and presenting 35:46 - our offerings to him, by celebrating the 35:50 - sacraments 35:52 - and sharing Christian fellowship. 35:56 - And I love this part whereby he ends by 36:00 - saying this. 36:02 - The result is that the heart 36:06 - which was frozen throughout the week on 36:11 - the Sabbath 36:13 - melts with the word. 36:18 - Dear friend, how are you preparing for 36:22 - the Lord's day the night before? 36:27 - Are you watching the movie late into the 36:31 - night, 36:34 - playing computer games, 36:37 - chatting with your friends till 36:39 - midnight, 36:41 - serving the internet, 36:44 - partying in celebration, 36:47 - and then rushing 36:50 - into the church early the next morning. 36:55 - That is not right.
There are endless questions that 37:03 - many Christians have asked about what 37:08 - they can and cannot do on the Sabbath. 37:13 - Can I play golf? 37:16 - Can I watch television? 37:19 - Can I catch up on my studies 37:22 - or my work? 37:24 - All these questions are easy to answer 37:28 - when you and I 37:30 - have learned to find delight 37:34 - in the worship of God. 37:37 - When you and I understand 37:40 - that the greatest pleasure 37:44 - is to fellowship with the one living and 37:49 - true God. 37:52 - But the real struggle 37:54 - is when we ask these questions 37:58 - looking for excuses and reasons 38:02 - to do our own things 38:06 - then we have missed the whole point of 38:10 - this commandment. 38:16 - There was a story 38:18 - of a man who was approached by a beggar 38:22 - on the street. 38:24 - The man reached out into his pocket to 38:27 - see what he could give. 38:30 - Finding $7, 38:33 - feeling pity for the beggar, he held out 38:36 - the $6 and said, "Here, 38:40 - this is for you." 38:43 - Not only did the beggar take the $6, 38:47 - with his other hand, he struck his 38:50 - benefactor on the face and grabbed the 38:54 - seventh dollar. 38:58 - What do you think of the beggar? 39:02 - Don't you think he was a wretched fella?
Conclusion?
Then what do you think of the sinner 39:11 - saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus 39:15 - Christ 39:17 - but yet insist on 39:20 - taking seven days 39:23 - a week for himself? 39:30 - What about a sinner who refused to come 39:33 - to church 39:36 - to worship 39:38 - on the Lord's day, 39:42 - the day 39:44 - that Jesus calls 39:47 - it is my day. 39:52 - The only way we can avoid this sin 39:58 - is to remember 40:00 - the Sabbath. 40:02 - And for us, it is the Christian Sabbath, 40:08 - the Lord's day. 40:11 - It is permanent 40:14 - and it is still applicable to us today 40:18 - and it will be perpetual. 40:21 - It will continue 40:23 - even in the new heavens and the new 40:26 - earth. 40:29 - It is a delight, 40:31 - not a burden. 40:35 - God gave us this gift 40:38 - that you and I may rest and catch our 40:43 - breath 40:44 - and be refreshed. 40:47 - It is a holy day, 40:51 - not a holy day. 40:53 - A day whereby 40:56 - we have set aside 40:59 - for the purpose of worship 41:02 - and for 41:04 - spiritual services 41:06 - onto the one living and true God. 41:11 - This is the importance of keeping the 41:14 - Christian Sabbath.
Closing Prayer
Let us pray. 41:20 - Our father in heaven, 41:23 - indeed once again 41:26 - we are just like the children of Israel. 41:30 - We have to be reminded 41:33 - of the importance of keeping 41:37 - the Lord's day 41:40 - because we always forget. 41:44 - Indeed, thou has reminded us once again 41:48 - of this great importance. 41:52 - If thou 41:54 - are not placed 41:57 - as the president of our lives, 42:00 - if thou are not 42:03 - the first 42:05 - before anything else, 42:08 - how are we able to keep all the other 42:10 - commandments? 42:13 - Thou must always 42:15 - be the president of our lives. 42:19 - And we want to worship thee on the 42:23 - Lord's day, 42:26 - the day our Lord Jesus was risen from 42:29 - the dead. 42:32 - Thou has reminded us that it is 42:35 - permanent. 42:37 - Indeed, it will continue 42:40 - and it is perpetual. 42:42 - Even unto the new heavens and the new 42:45 - earth, 42:46 - as Isaiah the prophet said, from one 42:49 - Sabbath to another, 42:53 - all of us will come before thee to 42:56 - worship. 42:58 - It is truly a delight and not a burden. 43:04 - Indeed, we cannot understand why some 43:07 - people would say it is burdensome. 43:11 - For it is a day that thou has called us 43:14 - to rest, 43:16 - to stop in our earthly duties and 43:20 - responsibilities, 43:22 - to catch our breath 43:25 - and be refreshed. 43:29 - Though it is a day of rest 43:32 - but it is not a h holiday hol 43:36 - but a holy day. 43:39 - It is a day we want to sanctify it and 43:43 - set it apart on today. 43:47 - Every day we ought to worship thee. But 43:50 - this is a special day that thou has set 43:53 - aside 43:55 - for all thy people to worship thee in 43:59 - spirit and in truth 44:01 - and we want to keep it holy. 44:06 - Oh Lord, remind us for as humans we 44:09 - always forget. 44:12 - Forgive us if there are times whereby we 44:15 - have not kept the Lord's day holy. 44:22 - Turn our hearts back onto thee so that 44:26 - all thy people 44:28 - will remember 44:30 - the Lord's day to keep it holy and 44:34 - acceptable in thy sight. 44:37 - We pray all this in Jesus name. 44:41 - Amen.