How To Keep The Sabbath

What does the Sabbath day mean to you? Is it special? Is it out of the ordinary? In other words, extraordinary? Is it a delight? Brethren, we're going to talk today about the Sabbath day. But the purpose of the message is not to prove the day that God set aside at creation as holy time, although we will touch on some of those aspects and scriptures along the way. Nor is it to prove which day was kept by Jesus Christ or His disciples or the apostles or the newly converted Christians in the first century. But instead, I'd like to focus, really, as I like to do a lot, is to ask a question, get us to think a little bit. I'd like to ask you a question. If we believe in the Ten Commandments that they need to be obeyed, and of course the fourth commandment being to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, how do we do that? It is a command that God gives to us to keep the Sabbath holy. So the title of the message today is, how do we obey that commandment? That's not the title. The title of the message today is, how to keep the Sabbath. And specifically, what I hope to accomplish with all of us today is to look at some biblical guidelines in the Word of God for you and your family to use as a guide to follow and obey that command to keep the Sabbath holy.

So let's begin with our first Scripture. Let's go all the way back to Genesis 2 and verse 1. Start at the beginning. We'll see here in this context that God blessed this day. The blessing of God means so much. When God blesses something, that's good. And He doesn't just bless everything, but He does bless this particular day. He blessed this day and He declared it holy. Let's take a look at that. We're going to focus on verse 3, but I'll pick up some of the context here in verse number 1. It says in Genesis chapter 2 verse 1, it says, Thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all of His work which He had done. And then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. That's two different separate things there. He blessed that particular day, which was the seventh day, and He sanctified it. I think we've talked over the years what sanctified means. It's not a word we use a lot, so sometimes the definition is helpful. Sanctified means made holy. Made holy. Or made holy for a special use, for a special purpose. It's different. It's different. Set aside for a specific purpose and made holy. All tied into that word sanctified. So God blessed the seventh day and He sanctified it because in it He rested from all of His work which God had created and made. Now let's look at that word sanctified a little bit further. That word sanctified, I'm going to give you the Hebrew word for that because sometimes it's translated sanctified in English, and sometimes it's transferred into other English words. And it really has the components of all of these meanings here, that one particular Hebrew word. So it's only six letters long, so I'd like you to write it down in your notes if you're taking notes. The Hebrew word that's translated here in verse 3 sanctified is kadash. And I'll spell it for you. It's Q-A-D-A-S-H. And like I mentioned, it can be translated into different English words. Here it's translated sanctified. In other places in Scripture, in the Old Testament, in the Hebrew language when it's translated into English, it's not only translated sanctified, which we understand means to be made holy or set aside from other things to be made holy for a special use. It also can be translated consecrated, and is in the Scripture. Consecrated. Now that's another word that we don't use every day. What does that mean? It means to make sacred. To make sacred or to set apart to the service of God. To set apart to the service of God. To be made sacred. It's also translated, the same Hebrew word, is translated hallowed in some places in Scripture. In fact, we'll look at the fourth commandment in a minute where it says, to keep the Sabbath day holy, it's that same Hebrew word, kadash. To keep the Sabbath day sanctified. To keep it holy. To keep it consecrated, in a sense.

Hallowed means, or is also translated holy in some places, it means to be set apart. It's something special. It's been made holy.

In Exodus 20, verse 8, I guess I'll refer you can turn there if you like. It's where the Ten Commandments, the fourth commandment in particular, are mentioned. In that context, it says, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. So that is part of the command to remember it. And to keep it holy, to keep it kadash. To keep it kadash.

The New Living Translation puts it this way, and God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy.

So right from the beginning, God declared it holy. Now we know that God rested. We know that He ceased from working. We know He blessed the seventh day.

We know He sanctified it and made it holy, and He set it apart from the rest of the day of the week.

Let's go over to Exodus 20.

Exodus 20. In the chapters of 19 and 20, as we're leading up to this, it talks about God, when He gave the Ten Commandments to His people, He caused the earth to tremble.

And He caused it to shake. Remember some of that part of the story?

And the manifestations of what were going on were absolutely awesome and even a little bit frightening.

And God said He came to His people to test them that His fear, in a sense, would be before them so that they wouldn't sin.

Let's notice Exodus 20, and we'll focus on verse 20 here.

Exodus 20, and verse 20. God is speaking through Moses here, and Moses relays the message from God.

And Moses said to God's people, fear not, for God is come to test you, and that His fear may be before your faces that you sin not.

So how do you and I, also God's people, the Israel God under the New Covenant, how do we respond to these words?

You know, again, the message today is not to prove which day is the Sabbath, but actually, we're really talking about in which day God is set aside.

I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the day that we understand to be the Sabbath day.

What do we need to do?

I'm not trying to prove, again, the day set aside, but to focus today on what we are really talking about in this particular message is what do we need to do as members of the Body of Christ in keeping this particular day holy?

Let's go over to 1 Peter 4 and verse 17. 1 Peter 4 and verse 17.

We've talked for years about the fact that the Sabbath is a test commandment. It's a test commandment. God measures the church, really, by what it does with His law.

We've come to realize, I think, that judgment begins at the house of God. God really, in a sense, has revealed a lot of His understanding of His laws and His commandments to you and I.

Judgment begins with us. What do we do with this instruction? How do we respond to this God that's called us to be a first fruit?

1 Peter 4 and verse 17. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. And if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who don't obey the gospel of God?

You know, we talk about this particularly on the eighth day that many people think of this judgment as a condemnation, but it's a process of time. It's an evaluation that God's people are... when God opens our eyes to begin to understand, that's when judgment begins. And it's a process over time.

A process of evaluation, of learning, of growing, of walking with God. And we are the people of God, and He's showing us how to observe this day.

He's opened our eyes and our minds to begin to understand it. And then, of course, He observes us. How do we respond to His command?

He observes us how we keep His laws, His commandments, and what He intends is us for to get ready to be prepared to be a part of His family.

One of the most important things that we can understand about this particular topic that we're talking about today is our job is to continually expand our understanding of God's law concerning not only the Sabbath, but of course the other nine commandments, and the rest of His Word.

But we're going to focus on the Sabbath today.

So how we keep the Sabbath, really, in a sense, is very important to God. He wants us to learn something. He wants us to apply.

What we learn. And it really, God wants to learn something about our character. What are we going to do with this command?

It is important for us to continue to grow in the understanding of not only the letter of the law, but also the spirit of the law.

Let's go over to Exodus chapter 31, back to the Old Testament for a moment. Exodus chapter 31. God made a special covenant with His people, back in Exodus chapter 31.

And we see from that chapter that the Sabbath is something that is an identifying sign of God's people.

It's a covenant. It's an agreement between two parties, in a sense.

And it's also a covenant that identifies these parties. It's a covenant that identifies people.

It identifies who God is, the real and true God. And it also identifies who His people are.

Notice what He communicates through Moses here in Exodus chapter 31 and verse number 13.

Exodus 31 and verse number 13.

It says, Speak also to the children of Israel, and say, Surely my Sabbaths, plural, you shall keep.

And notice it is a sign between me and you, throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

So now this word sanctifies is that same Hebrew word that we talked about earlier. It's kadash.

And so not only has God set the Sabbath aside for special use, sanctified it, kadash it, made it holy, but now He's talking about His people.

He's also sanctified you and me. Set us aside for holy use.

That you may know, the sign is between me and you, throughout your generations, that you may know that I am God, I am the Lord, and I've also sanctified you. Surely my Sabbaths, you shall keep.

So God's people keep His Sabbaths. And so the Sabbath day is very important. It's one of the Ten Commandments.

It's not any more important than the other nine, but it's certainly as important. And it's a sign.

It's one of the Commandments that's basically pulled out as a sign between who the true God and Creator is and who His people are.

So as we serve God on this day, there's something special we can learn about the Sabbath.

Verse 14, you shall keep the Sabbath. Therefore, it is holy to you.

He begins to share a little more information. Not only is the Sabbath holy, not only are we holy, but the Sabbath itself is holy to us.

It's holy to you. And everyone who profanes it, this is New King James, I think in Old King James, it says defiles it, shall surely be put to death. For whoever does any work on it, that person's going to be cut off from among God's people.

The prophet Ezekiel wrote about some of the consequences, some of them pretty severe, when people had profaned or defiled God's Sabbath.

Let's take a look at that for a moment. Let's go over to Ezekiel chapter 20.

Ezekiel chapter 20.

We're going to begin here in verse number 11.

Ezekiel chapter 20.

We'll pick it up here in verse number 11. God says through his prophet Ezekiel, And I gave them my statutes, and I showed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them.

Where also I gave them my Sabbaths. The Sabbaths are something that were given to us.

They were given to us. I gave them, and notice, my Sabbaths. These are my Sabbaths, not the Jewish Sabbaths.

They're my Sabbaths, to be assigned.

I gave them my Sabbaths, to be assigned between me and them.

Sounds very similar to what we just read in Exodus chapter 31. It's a sign.

This is several generations later that this was written.

It's basically masking or saying the same thing that went back to the time of Moses.

He says, I gave them my Sabbaths, to be assigned between me and them, that they might know that I am the God that sanctified them. I'm the Lord that sanctified them.

Verse 13, But the house of Israel rebelled against me.

In the wilderness, they didn't walk in my statutes. They despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them.

And my Sabbaths, again plural, they greatly polluted.

That's some pretty tough stuff to hear about.

There's a lot of negativity here in these verses here about what God's people did after they entered into this covenant agreement that I will do what you've asked me to do, God.

Remember that when they entered into that in the old covenant, that what the eternal has said we will do.

And in verse 13, God says they rebelled. They didn't walk according to my statutes. They despised my judgments.

They polluted my Sabbaths. And God says he's angry about that. He's not pleased with that.

He said, I'll pour out my fury on them in the wilderness to consume them.

So God is serious. He doesn't change. He's serious about this. He's still merciful. Don't get me wrong. He's still merciful.

When we see the error of our ways and we repent and change, God forgives.

As a loving Father, He always has and He always will.

But there's something about this particular commandment that God feels is important for us. It needs to be holy to us as it's holy to Him.

So God was serious about the Sabbath being a test commandment.

And how we keep the Sabbath tells us really how much we want to be in His family.

It tells us something. That's why it is a test commandment.

You may recall from Scripture that the Jews were convinced that Sabbath breaking was the primary reason that they went into a captivity.

Once they came out of that captivity, they proceeded in a sense to make rules for the Sabbath so they wouldn't break it again.

But you know they went from one ditch to another. Sometimes it's hard for us to find the balance.

They went from profaning it to a wholly different side of the ditch.

They became sometimes what we refer to as Pharisaical, where they developed different categories of what defined work on the Sabbath.

In fact, they developed at least 39 categories, according to some sources, of activities that comprised work.

Everything from swatting a fly, to carrying a mat, to taking a little bit of a handful of grain as you're walking through a field on the Sabbath day when you're hungry, to helping an injured man or healing an injured person, or a person who was lame or deformed.

Christ had to talk to them about that. He had to address that. In fact, He condemned the Pharisees for some of the things that they did.

But you know if that ditch is wrong, the other side is wrong as well. You have to have a balance. God is balanced, and He's a just God.

Now, I'm not trying to create some type of yardstick religion here when we talk about what you can and cannot do on the Sabbath day.

But in our history, some of our history, back maybe in the late 1970s, in the early 1990s, it was watered down. The observance of the Sabbath, observance became different from what it had been in years past.

A few examples that people began to dress inappropriately in the way that they were dressing.

People treated the Sabbath just simply almost as another day, rather than as a special day, rather than as a feast day, rather than as a holy, consecrated, sacred day. A special day.

They didn't get as involved preparing for it and looking forward to it.

So, brethren, really, all I'm trying to do is reemphasize some of these areas to help us to better understand how we should keep the Sabbath holy.

And I'm not here to judge the intents of anyone's heart here. I'm in the same boat with you, just trying to find out from Scripture what it is that God would help us to do or help us to understand when it comes to keeping the Sabbath holy.

Let's look at some primary principles from Scripture that talk about the Sabbath, about how to keep it holy.

I'm going to give a list of principles, and there's probably a lot more than the ones that I'm going to share with you today.

But let's begin with a few.

First principle I'd like to share today is the commandment tells us not to work.

The commandment tells us not to work.

Let's notice that. Let's go back to the commandment itself, and this particular one in Exodus, chapter 20.

We'll go to Deuteronomy 5 as well, but let's start out here in Exodus, chapter 20. We'll pick it up in verse 8. We're going to read through verse 11.

But let's pick it up and look at the commandment itself, and then some of the context here that follows that's part of it.

Exodus, chapter 20.

And we'll pick it up here in verse number 8.

There's a lot in these verses here as we spend some time here, and we're going to focus mainly on the principle that the commandment tells us not to work.

But there are some other things we can learn here as well.

The fourth commandment, Exodus, chapter 20, verse 8 says, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it kadash, to keep it holy.

We talk about keeping the Sabbath holy as part of the command. You may have heard the analogy that if I gave you cold water, could you keep it hot?

If I gave you cold water, could you keep it hot? Can you keep cold water hot? No, you can't. You can't.

You have to make it hot first, and then you can keep it hot, maybe by keeping it on the stove.

Brethren, but if it's not made hot to begin with, you and I can't keep cold water hot. It has to be hot to begin with.

God makes something holy. You cannot keep a day holy that's never been made holy.

God made it holy, and he made it holy way back in Genesis, chapter 2. That's what he says. That's what he reveals to you and me from the Scriptures.

He tells us he blessed it then. He sanctified it then. He made it holy then. And we're to keep it holy. How do we do that? How do we do that?

He begins to explain. Six days you shall labor and do all of your work. But the seventh day, this day that I've blessed and set aside, is different.

But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, your God. In it you shall not do any work. And not just you, but your son, your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant.

Your cattle. Your stranger that's within your gates, that's in your dwelling. I don't want them to work either. Not just you, but those that are under the authority for teaching and those that work for you.

The emphasis here is pretty clear. That to keep the Sabbath holy, we got to refrain from work.

Now it's clear God didn't want regular work to go on during this holy time of the Sabbath. He didn't want his people to continue to work or to work through others.

Even those who are currently non-believers, the stranger that's within your gates.

So he commanded that children and slaves and animals and foreigners were not to be compelled to work in the homes or businesses of God's people. Something under your control.

So they were to cease from work on the Sabbath.

Over the years, probably you like me, like my wife and I, have tried to apply the scripture in our lives. First of all, to our family and then to our children.

And I tried to put aside all work-related activities prior to the seventh day, prior to the Sabbath.

I tried to put all that away by Friday sunset.

When our children were young, they didn't have jobs. They didn't, in a sense, have a job that they were working at. But they did have school work.

And so we wouldn't allow our children to do their school work on the Sabbath because, in a sense, that was their work.

We didn't allow them to go to school or to attend functions or to do their school work on God's Sabbath day. They, too, put away their work, which mainly consisted of their school work at that time in their lives.

We can do our own work for six days. But God tells us, on that seventh day, it's holy time, and part of keeping it holy is refraining from work.

Many of you know that I owned a business for many years, for actually decades, and we had several employees that we hired.

And so, when it came to the winter time, you recall, normally, our normal work day, you know, was from 8 to 5.

Well, the sun sets on Friday prior to 5 o'clock. Sometimes as early as like 4.35, 4.40, depends on which part of the Midwest you're in.

And we'd send them home. And we'd get out of there, too. That was something I felt very, very strongly about.

Now, I'm not suggesting that everyone should do what I'm about to say, but we paid them until 5 o'clock.

You wouldn't have to do that, but we decided to do that. Even though they were leaving, you know, at 4.30, said, you know, it's time for you to go.

And that included the annual festivals. Sometimes they fall during the week.

And so, I wouldn't let our employees, so Lynn and I were working together as a team, we wouldn't let our employees work on the annual, obviously, on the annual Sabbath.

So we said, don't come in, we're going to be closed. We put a sign on the door, and God blessed all of that. Some people say, you can't close during the week. You're going to hurt your business. I don't think so.

From our own personal experience, God blessed that situation.

Now, I wouldn't say everyone would have to do this either, but this is what we did. We paid them for the day.

They were normally going to work that day, and we're going to let them work. But we paid them.

Of course, they were pretty excited about that. They started to say, well, when's the next, you know, I like this situation. Spring Holy Days, what's going to happen in the fall, you know?

And, you know, brethren, I don't know. I always hoped that someday they'll make a connection when God opens their eyes.

Oh, that's why they did that.

They didn't want that. We were under their, you know, we were their employees, and they weren't supposed to let their maid servants and their men servants work.

Things under their control. So I hope someday that was like planting a seed that will eventually grow. Someday, I guess we'll have to wait and see.

But I think there's a possibility that will make a little bit of an impact when God opens their eyes. I hope so. Hope they'll remember it. Farther memories.

Well, let's notice verse 11 here, Exodus chapter 20.

For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day.

Now there's a little bit of a connection here I want to point out, or something maybe that can be overlooked here in this particular verse.

Did you notice something here in verse 11 that maybe is a little different? God now calls the seventh day the Sabbath day. The Sabbath day. Do you see that in this verse? Let's read it again.

For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them and he rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day.

He now calls the seventh day the Sabbath day. He doesn't call the other six days of the week the Sabbath day. He calls the seventh day the Sabbath day.

Almost a new name. Therefore the Lord blessed that day. No longer even calling it the seventh day. He's calling it the Sabbath day. And he hallowed it.

And again, this word hallowed is the same Hebrew word that we read in Genesis chapter 2 verse 3 earlier. Kadesh.

In fact, God is telling us the same thing here in Exodus chapter 20 verse 11 as he told us in Genesis chapter 2 that the seventh day has been blessed, it's been sanctified, and it's been made holy.

It's special. Made special by God himself, the one who created the heavens and the earth in you and me.

Now let's go back just for a moment back to verse number 8 here in Genesis chapter 20. It says, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Part of the command.

He says, first of all, to remember. When he says remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, to set it apart otherwise, or another way of saying it or making it special. When he says remember it, he's also telling them, you knew about this before. You knew about this before. In fact, the Sabbath day was known even from the beginning.

It was taught to Adam and Eve. It was passed on to their progeny. He's telling them they knew about it before, even from the beginning, as we've seen all the way back to creation. Remember the Sabbath day. It implies it was once known and it's to be remembered today. To keep it holy, sanctified, set apart, and special. Make it special. Keep it special.

Let's go to Deuteronomy chapter 5. Now that's the other place that this command is listed here. Deuteronomy chapter 5, and we're going to pick it up here in verse number 12. Let's go back there. Deuteronomy chapter 5 and verse 12.

Again, it's also mentioned here in this context. You'll see there's a little bit of a difference that God brings out here. In fact, maybe a little major difference between how He talks about the Sabbath command in Deuteronomy chapter 5 as to what He brings out in Exodus chapter 20.

Let's take a look here. We'll see a difference. I think what we'll see as we touch on this here is the major difference here is that God reminds them that they were slaves in Egypt. Let's take a look at that, and that they ought to value this day because they were forced to work seven days a week. They were forced to work almost 24-7 at the whims of their taskmasters.

Let's pick it up here in Deuteronomy chapter 5 verse 12. The first part of it says here, observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Again, set apart.

As the Lord your God commanded you, six days shall you labor and do all your work, but the seventh day, and then He goes on and repeats some of the same things that He talked about in Exodus 20. But now let's jump to verse 15 where He points out some of the differences here. And remember, want you to remember something else. Remember that you were slaves. You were slaves in the land of Egypt. And that the Lord your God brought you out of that slavery with a mighty hand. He brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm.

So now, while Exodus 20 gives us aspects about the creation, remember back, you know, God created the heavens and the earth at six days. And then He talks about the Sabbath being blessed on the seventh day. Now He brings out something, not creation. He talks about something a little bit different. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. You were a slave and that the Lord your God brought you out with a mighty hand, a stretched out arm. Why did He do it? Part of the reason was that they might come out and worship Him, to have a relationship with Him, to come out of slavery, to true liberty, and to true freedom.

They might worship Him. Don't neglect the Sabbath day, He told them, but remember that you were slaves. Or were they slaves too? Well, their time wasn't their own. They didn't really have their own life.

They lived a life at the whim of their taskmasters and God says, I've given you a time for the Sabbath to worship Me.

Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

So Deuteronomy chapter 5 emphasizes the fact that they, and maybe we too, have been freed from slavery and have the opportunity to worship the one who brought us out of that slavery.

The one who's going to give them the Promised Land, and I guess for us, you know, eternal life in the family, the Promised Land in the Kingdom of God, kind of a parallel there, and God being the giver of every good and precious gift.

Let's go over to Exodus chapter 23 and verse 12 to start our second principle here. Exodus chapter 23 and verse number 12.

We'll look at a second principle that we can count on. It's just pretty clear, I think, as we go through principle on how to keep the Sabbath holy.

Exodus chapter 23 verse 12. The second principle is that the commandment tells us to rest. The commandment tells us to rest.

This is found as we begin here in Exodus chapter 23 and verse number 12.

It says, there are six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest.

The Hebrew word there for rest is Shabbat. Shabbat. Seven letters. S-H-A-B-A-T-H. S-H-A-B-A-T-H. That's where we get the English word Sabbath.

He says, you shall rest. You Shabbath. That your ox and your donkey may rest. That they would Shabbath.

And the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed.

You know, refreshed, another way to translate that into English is from a Hebrew word, nayfash. To be refreshed, it can also mean to breathe.

To take a breath. To stop this rat race, I guess, in a way, is what we put in modern terminology. And to breathe.

As if also by a current of air. This refreshing current of air that just cools you. To be refreshed.

Now, this does not mean that we stay in bed all day. Rest means to change.

The overall approach that we have from six days, go, go, go, or work, work, work, to just being able to stop and enjoy the day.

You may have heard this story. It's the story of a wagon train. This goes back to the 19th century.

It's the story of a wagon train group that was on their way from St. Louis, Missouri to some place in Oregon.

And the members of this particular wagon train were Christian. Not maybe the way we think of it, because they kept the Sabbath, but they kept it on the first day of the week.

But, you know, back then, they tried to keep the first day of the week like we tried to keep the seventh day of the week today.

It was much more serious when it came to a first-day Sabbath observance. So its members were devoted to the Sabbath in that regard. So the whole group observed stopping on the Sabbath and to rest, according to the commandment.

Well, winter was approaching, and they began to get a little bit nervous that maybe they were not going to be able to make it unless they traveled all seven days of the week.

So that idea was brought up by some of the members of the wagon train. Well, that didn't go over very well with everybody.

There was some contention. There was some disagreements for all of that.

To this proposal that they should quit their practice of stopping for the Sabbath and continue driving onwards seven days of the week.

So they finally, someone suggested that they should break into two different groups.

Those that wanted to travel seven days a week could, and those that decided they were going to stop and observe a Sabbath rest.

So they all traveled together until that next Sabbath, and then one group continued on.

The other group that decided to rest decided to stay and to observe that part of the commandment.

So they had an agreement. That's what they were going to do.

Well, guess which group arrived in Oregon first?

Those that rested one day in seven.

Apparently, brethren, of course, God knows the end from the beginning. He knows all this works. The rest that they, as well as the animals that rested as well, they were able to more vigorously travel in six days than what the other group was able to do in seven.

Brethren, God honors and blesses those, of course, who honor and obey His commandments.

This is just another example of that.

Per Samuel, I'll just refer.

Per Samuel 2, verse 30, those who honor Me, I will honor.

They obey the command, and God bless them! Be blessed them!

Be blessed them. They arrived first.

So that second principle is we are to rest.

Not to work, but we are to rest and be refreshed.

A third principle of the command.

Some of these are pretty obvious, I know, but I hope to bring out some little nuances that maybe we haven't seen before.

The third principle is we're commanded to have a holy convocation.

We are commanded to have not just a convocation, but a holy convocation.

Let's go back to Leviticus chapter 23, and we're going to pick it up in verse number 3.

Leviticus chapter 23 and verse number 3.

There's a lot in verse number 3.

Some of it we've already touched on, when it comes to the Sabbath, and some of the principles.

But there's another principle here of how to keep it holy.

Leviticus chapter 23 and verse number 3.

Of course, we know this is in the context of God's holy days, the weekly Sabbath in one of those.

It says in verse 3, it says, Six days shall work be done.

We touched on this, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest.

We touched on that. A holy convocation. That's the one we're going to focus on here in a moment.

You shall do no work. We've touched on that. It is the Sabbath of the Lord.

We've touched on that in all of your dwellings. We've touched on that as well.

Let's talk about holy convocation, starting with the word convocation.

Convocation, well, it can have a lot of different meanings. It comes from a Hebrew word, mikra, m-i-k-r-a-w, six letters, m-i-k-r-a-w.

It can mean and can be translated convocation, which means an assembly of people, a group of people that come together. It could also have the nuance of not, they're just coming together, but they are called out to come together. They are convoked. They are called out to come together in a public meeting.

It has that nuance of meaning in the Hebrew, which we don't often see as it's translated in English.

It has a nuance of meaning, not only to be an assembly of people, a called-out group to a public meeting, but also a rehearsal, that you're practicing something.

You're rehearsing the reality of something that's going to happen in the future.

So, brethren, we are commanded, as part of this Sabbath command, and part of keeping the Sabbath holy, to come together as a holy assembly.

And we are commanded to appear before God.

Sometimes, maybe you're like me, you need to be reminded of that.

That God is here. He's commanding us to come and appear before Him.

He's here.

With us.

Through His Spirit.

A bird doesn't fall from the sky, he doesn't know about that.

And that's all seven days of the week.

But He rests, in a way, as He did, and He commands us to appear before Him on this, His special Holy Day, and also our Holy Day.

That's holy to us, as well.

So, verse 3 says the Sabbath is a holy convocation. Talk about that a little bit. A holy convocation is a special time of holy assembly, and the gathering together of God's holy people.

This command is an appointed time, by the direct authority of God Himself.

So we find a little more information here, that not only are we to cease from work on the Sabbath, not only to be refreshed and rest on the Sabbath, but God also instructs us to assemble together every Sabbath, called out to assemble before Him.

So we can't just be a stay-at-home Christian.

We can't do that.

A great part of keeping God's Sabbath holy has to do with the interaction and involvement with God, and with His people on a regular basis, every seven days.

Let's go over to Luke 4, verse 16, back to the New Testament now. Luke 4, verse 16.

On God's Sabbath, you and I have an appointment with God. We are commanded to appear before Him.

And I think most of us understand the concept of an appointment. We've touched on this in the past. You maybe had a doctor's appointment, and you know they know you're coming, and they're going to be there. In fact, they may have taken certain preparations, and the doctor and the staff are expecting you, and they usually make every effort to be on time for your appointment with them. So God is requesting you and I to come and appear before Him every Sabbath day to come and worship and to have fellowship with fellow believers who come together for this convocation, this holy convocation.

Luke 4, verse 16. Jesus said many times, I'm just going to turn to this scripture, but there's a lot of others we could turn to, that He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day. He's our example. And it says, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and He stood up to read. So there's Jesus' example. He went to a place, a holy convocation, where God's people were assembling before Him, and He did the same. Now the words, holy convocation, also imply something else. Called out, commanded to come out, convoked, in a sense. It implies an official summons. An official summons to worship. To put it another way, God tells you and me to be here.

Have any of you ever received a summons to testify in court? Anybody? Okay, John, Jelinda? Okay. Okay, several. Okay. You're summoned to be there. And if you're summoned to be there, and you don't come, you can be held in contempt. Contempt of court. You know, it's just not something, oh, they're asking me to come and testify. I've gotten the summons. It's just not, you can't just shrug that off. You can be held in contempt of court.

We hear, you know, these thoughts of contempt. Okay? Contempt, what does that mean? Contempt means that you're disrespectful, you're disobedient towards a court of law, or it's appointed officers. You're disrespectful, you're disobedient towards a court of law, or it's officers, and you can be jailed. You can be fined. Jesus went into the synagogue. He obeyed his summons to come. This holy convocation, he didn't stay at home. Brethren, similarly, God has said to us that we should respond by being here and appearing before him.

So we discussed a lot of things here, including the Sabbath as a sign between God and his people. And one of the instructions also God gave us on his Sabbath days to come. And to have a holy convocation and to worship and honor him every Sabbath. It's hard to do that by staying home. Let me ask you a question. Is there a time when God calls us to assemble before him that we can tell him, sorry God, we can't make it today?

And he'll say, no problem, don't worry about it. My answer to that would be, I think from Scripture, of course there are those times when we say, God, I really am sorry, because I can't make it today. I can't make it to the service today. And God understands when we're sick. He understands that. And we may have a communicable disease, and we don't want to share that with everybody else.

Or you're recovering from an injury. Or you're recovering from a surgery. Or we're just physically not able to make it. Or we have a sick child, and we've got to stay home with them. Of course, the weather can play a factor. We know here in Iowa that the weather can play a factor.

It can be dangerous. So we understand that. Too dangerous to drive. And there's probably some other good reasons. However, over time, sometimes I think the list of why it started to grow. Like, I'm just too tired. I've got to get my strength up to go to work the next day. So I need to rest so I can go to work tomorrow.

Or I'm camping this weekend. And the weekends are the only time I'm off work. I've got to work six days a week, and so I'm going to camp this weekend. I think many of us have camped on the Sabbath with the church brethren. We've had an outdoor church service in the past over the years in some of the congregation. But some are arranging camping trips several times during the summer months, and they don't go to services anywhere.

I think you can arrange your camping trips so you can be fairly close to a place where you can go to the Sabbath within an hour, hour, half, two-hour drive. I mean, many of us travel that far now. I gave this message earlier in the winter to one of the congregations, and I said, I'm glad I'm doing this in the dead of winter because nobody's camping right now, you know? Sometimes you're afraid to step on toes.

But... So I'm not stepping on any toes. No, maybe I am. But I think with camping trips that you can plan things out, which can include attending Sabbath services. Or, if camping with several church families, you know, someone can take the time to download a webcast prior to going, to prepare for that. You can have a complete church service with many people. Probably not preferable, but sometimes you really are far, far away. And the time can be taken where you could download something prior to the camp out and have a full service, which could be played.

The important thing to remember is that we're called to assemble that we have an appointment with God on the Sabbath day. And it's His day. It's not our camping day. And it's our day, too, in a sense, because He said, it's holy to you, too. It's holy to me. It's holy to you. It's our day. The family of God's day. He's personally called us. God has.

The Father's opened our eyes personally to understand certain things and called us into the body. He's personally called you and I, and He wants you and I to be in His kingdom. That's why He called us to be in His kingdom. And it's a personal journey, in a way, between you and God. And you answer to God.

You don't answer to me. I do have a responsibility to teach and share, but we all have the individual responsibility to answer to God. And how I approach that sometimes is when I'm faced with a major decision, I try to think if I come before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ and Christ asks me, why did you do that? And I would hope that I would say I'd have a Scripture I could turn to. I said, well, sir, it was written. And then fill in the blank. It was written in your word. Why did I choose to miss the assembly?

What was the basis for my decision? Why I did what I did, or why I didn't do what I did? Not only the Sabbath, I suppose, but almost anything you could think of. I hope I am able to say, well, sir, I read in your Bible and think about a verse that I could quote. Again, the point being, you don't answer to me, you answer to God. And our journey is now, and because we've been called, judgment is upon us now, this isn't a practice run for you and for me.

This is not a game. This is our time of salvation. This is our time for judgment. Judgment now is upon the house of God. This is our opportunity for salvation. Others will have their opportunity later. But this is our opportunity right now. And God is concerned. Since this is the time of our salvation, He's concerned about our character development. He wants us to be there. We know that. He wants us to be there. He's pulling for us. And He's in the midst of a pretty big process of trying to transform us from this physical being to a spiritual being.

From a mortal, weak, physical being into a spiritual creation. That's a big job He's got. But we have to respond to that. He wants, of course, to give us eternal life in His family. He wants us to be about our Father's business. Jesus being the example of that as an older brother. Let's go to a fourth principle here. A fourth principle is one of the reasons we are here and one of the ways of keeping the Sabbath holy.

A fourth principle is that we're here to fellowship. We are here to fellowship. Let's go over to Hebrews chapter 10. We're here to fellowship. A fourth principle that we're going to address here is fellowship. And it ties in a little bit with the principle of a holy convocation. That it has some of its own meaning. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse number 25 a pretty familiar scripture to a lot of us. Maybe not all of us. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25 verse 24 it says, let us consider one another to stir up love and good works to encourage each other for those things.

Verse 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is. Some said, you know what? I don't think we need to do that. So I'm going to forsake the assembling of ourselves. But that's not the clear instruction from scripture. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another.

So when we come together in order to keep the Sabbath holy, not only for fellowship, but he tells us how when it comes to fellowship with each other. By exhorting one another. I think we know what exhorting means. Encouraging one another. And so much more as you see the day approaching. What day do you think he's talking about? The day approaching. Probably the end of the age when the love of many will wax cold.

That we're going to need the assembling of ourselves together even more so as we get closer to that time. And I would suggest we're getting closer to that time. And our enemy would rather have us forsake the assembling of ourselves. Or when we come together, our enemy would rather have us not exhorting each other.

So interestingly, this verse tells us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. And that's what it means. Not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together. It's simple. I'm reminded of a story of my dad's sister. She was Catholic. And when she would come to visit us from the Dakotas, she'd come usually every summer.

Year in and year out for decades. And it was usually over a weekend. And every Sunday, because that's the day they observed, she'd go to services. Catholic Church. She'd go, okay, what time are the services? You know, where's the address? Every single time. She said, I have to go to church. I don't want to miss church. Because Catholics teach that if you miss services without a good reason, this is a mortal sin. Isn't that interesting?

They teach, if you miss services without being sick or having a valid reason, that's considered a mortal sin. And if you died without repenting, you'd go straight to a place that wasn't heaven or purgatory. This verse says we need to be gathering ourselves together. So much more as we see the end of the age approaching. We're here. We're here.

We're here to learn what God has to share with us. We're here to learn from the other members. We're here to encourage each other. We're here to absorb one another. We're here to learn from the message of God. We're here to learn from the messages that are given in the sermon and the sermonette. And, brother, I can tell you from personal experience I've seen apostasy set in on those that don't follow this principle where they just stay at home.

Apostasy. Another word we don't use a lot. What does apostasy mean? Well, to find apostasy, because it's a word we don't use every day, it means a total desertion or a total departure from one's principles or religion. A total desertion or a total departure from one's religion or principles. And there's a reason God says come together in a holy convocation every seven days. There's a reason to have fellowship. It's important. It's important when we come here and gather together once in every seven days.

That's by God's design. And it's not just with one another. It's with Him here being with us as we appear before Him. And God commands us as part of this holy day to encourage and exhort one another. You know and I know it's difficult out there.

And we need to be able to come here and take a deep breath and be refreshed and be safe. And to encourage each other. By God's design. It's by His design. Our enemy would have us do nothing better than to get in here and have us begin to gossip or to tell about somebody else behind their back without the slander of them in a sense true or untrue.

Or they don't have a chance to defend themselves. That is not part of keeping this day holy. We got to be really careful. God's here. He hears every word that we say. He even knows the thoughts of our heart. So we talked about that. You know, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth will eventually speak.

He knows what's going on inside here with all of us. So it's our heart is an issue. You know, sometimes when these words come out of our mouths. And it's actually a character issue. It's important that we gather to help and encourage one another to allow others sometimes to encourage us. And sometimes it's our time to encourage them. After we've had a tough week or a bad week. I probably told you this before. Jelena purchased this little sign in our kitchen.

She put it up in one of the cabinets and says, take a deep breath. You're home. And when we're together with church family, in a sense with God the Father here and Jesus Christ here through the Spirit, we should be able to be home here. It's a safe place.

You know, a home protects you from the outside environment, from the storms, from the rain, from the winds. You can be comfortable. This is by God's design. And we need each other. Let's go over to Mark 2, verse 27. Mark 2, back to the New Testament here. We're in the New Testament. Mark 2, verse 27. The Sabbath was designed to serve us. The Sabbath was designed to serve man. Jesus himself shared that with us. So let's look at that and be reminded of it in Mark 2, verse 27.

Jesus said to them, the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. You know, on the Sabbath we assemble or when we assemble, we learn about life's purposes, why we're here, where we're headed, and most important, we learn how to live. You know, brethren, I can tell you over in India they long for a weekly Sabbath observance to get together with people of like mind.

And I've mentioned this before, you know, you don't know what it's like until you're in their shoes, but they just said, oh, we wish there was a church close by. They long for that fellowship. They long for what we have. Proper Sabbath observance and keeping it holy allows us to develop and maintain a relationship both with God and with our brothers and sisters. So, not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. Let's go to a fifth principle here. A fifth principle. A fifth principle is reverencing God's sanctuary. Reverancing God's sanctuary. Let's notice Leviticus chapter 26, verse number 2.

Leviticus chapter 26 and verse 2. This ties in a little bit with what we've touched on, but it adds a little bit more detail here. Part of properly keeping the Sabbath holy is reverencing God's sanctuary. Let's notice Leviticus chapter 26, and verse number 2. You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary. Other than this includes, among other things, really includes respect in the way we dress, as we come before God, the way we get to church on time, start on time, find our way to our seats, and be ready to take part in the service, in the song service, and be ready to listen to the messages that we're going to hear.

We need to have our wedding garment on. There's a principle here. Let's notice over in Matthew chapter 22, let's go back to the New Testament. Probably have you keep your finger in Leviticus. We're going to come back here. Matthew chapter 22, verse 11.

Matthew 22, verse 11. This would be familiar also to many of us here. When the king came in to see the guests, Matthew 22, verse 11, he saw that there was a man which didn't have a wedding garment on. And he said to him, How have you come here not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, take him away, cast him into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for many are called, but few are chosen. We need to be properly attired. We need to be wearing the best that we have.

It's like the high priest who would go into the Holy of Holies once a year on the Day of Atonement. And he couldn't just come dressed the way he normally was. He couldn't do that. He had to have a special garment on. Let's take a look at that. A special garment to show respect to God and to show reverence. Let's go back to Leviticus. Leviticus, chapter 16.

And we're going to pick it up here in verse number 4. This is in the context of the Day of Atonement. Leviticus, chapter 16. And verse number 4. Talking about the high priest and what he had to wear before he could come in. It says, he shall put on the Holy linen coat. And he shall have the linen breeches on his flesh. And he shall be girded with a linen girdle. You know, linen is just a really fine quality material. That's really sown. It has a really tight weave. I may have mentioned this before, too. One of the members in another congregation said, linen is, you know, it's woven so tight that sometimes even soil won't stick to it. It just repels things. He shall be girded with a linen girdle. And with a linen turban, shall he be attired. And these are holy garments. Therefore he shall wash his flesh in water and put them on before he comes in to meet with God.

Let's go back to Exodus chapter 20. Exodus chapter 20. Verse 8. We talked about this already. Remember the Sabbath. To keep it holy. This is part of the commandment. To remember the Sabbath and to keep it holy. It's been made holy. We're to keep it that way. It's interesting that the word remember, we touched on that already, is used. And it can have another meaning. And San Sino commentary says this about the word remember. It says, this means we should always keep the Sabbath in mind during the week.

We should keep it in mind during the week. The Bible talks about preparing for the Sabbath. We prepare for the Feast of Tabernacles, don't we? Wow! Do we ever? You know, you think about where you're going, you have to make all these preparations about what you're going to take, where you're going to stay, what flights you're going to have to arrange, or you're driving, or you're taking the train, or your personal car. You know, there's all these different preparations. And the Bible talks about preparing for the Sabbath. In fact, the day before the Sabbath, as mentioned several times, is the Preparation Day in Scripture.

The Preparation Day. There's several places that we could read. I'll just refer to one here. Let's go to Luke, chapter 23, and verse 54. Luke, chapter 23, and verse number 54. There's a lot of other scriptures we could read, but this is hopefully will suffice. You can reference other scriptures if you're interested. Luke, chapter 23, and verse number 54. This is after Jesus' crucifixion. I'm talking about these women. It says, that day was the Preparation. Talking about the day before the Sabbath. And the Sabbath drew near. And the women who had come with him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how his body was laid. And then they returned, and they prepared spices and fragrant oils.

This is all part of the Preparation. And then they rested on the Sabbath day according to the Commandment. So to keep the Sabbath day holy, in a sense, we have to be ready for it. Welcome it, in a way. Prepared, mentally and physically. Sometimes that can be a challenge. So that this day can be the blessing, really, that God intended it to be.

If we're thinking about the Sabbath, then we begin to make some preparations for it that are needed. Instead of running six days a week, go, go, go, and then just going like 100 miles an hour right up to sunset, and then we come to a screeching halt. I don't think that's what God has in mind. You know, instead of doing all of that and coming to a sudden stop, an abrupt stop at sunset, we can take the opportunity to begin to switch gears earlier.

Some examples, and this is just a few, you know, shining our shoes, man, the day before. You know, pressing our clothes, preparing for the foods, maybe, a little bit. Thinking about what we're going to do with the children, those types of things. Let's go over to Isaiah chapter 58. Isaiah chapter 58 talks about the Sabbath here, that God talks about how He created it and He wanted to be a blessing. Isaiah chapter 58, verse number 13.

Isaiah 58, verse number 13. God wanted it to be a blessing. He says He blessed it, and He wants it to be a blessing for us. He was made for us. We weren't made for it, it was made for us. He wants it to be a delight. He says, if you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord.

This is the day that God has made holy. Honorable! And also honoring God, honoring Him. Not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words. Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord. And I'm going to cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth. And I'm going to feed you with the heritage of Jacob, your father, the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

These are God's words that come straight from His mouth. So Isaiah 58 contrasts our ways with God's ways. And on the Sabbath we're to turn from our ways, our jobs, our work around the house, our school, our college, our finances, and the things that we tend to think about and consume us the other six days of the week. We begin to change our focus on God and His ways. Spending time in prayer, spending time in the Word of God, reviewing God's plan. Those are all important things in the plan of God. And to be careful about things. Be careful. We come into a part about social media and the things that are there that are available to us, that are all around us.

You know, how do we use those things? Do we use them for personal entertainment on the Sabbath? Or do we use them for information? And this is what we have to evaluate. There are certain questions maybe that we must judge in our Sabbath keeping. It can be a couple of sides of the story. There are some people who will spend several hours watching television or movies on the Sabbath.

Maybe even our rated movies. That to me is a ditch that we shouldn't go in. And there are others that will completely avoid it at all. No videos, no television, at all zero. And that could be another side of the ditch. Further, on God's Sabbath they were to focus on Him and drawing close to Him. He says, pay attention to me on the Sabbath. The Sabbath should be an honor to me. And when we begin to do that, we'll find that television and the computer and other media will eventually fall into line.

They'll find their proper place. If we have that attitude, then it'll come to its proper place. Remember a story about our son, Jamie, in a cell phone in Mexico. I may have told you this story. But his phone didn't work in Mexico. Cell phone. He was so frustrated at first.

He was probably in his late teens at that time. And at the end of this eight-day festival, he said, you know what? I feel free. I haven't missed this thing. And I thought that was significant for a person of his age to be able to even understand that after an eight-day experience. I feel frustrated. I feel free. I've been connected to this thing.

I've been a slave to this thing, and I didn't even know it. For him to understand that at his age, I thought was kind of significant that he even admit that. For them forsaking our ways doesn't mean the Sabbath is a day of displeasure or keeping to ourselves.

The Sabbath is to be a pleasurable and enjoyable day. Don't have to go through the examples that I'd like to about how Jesus was accused of breaking the Sabbath by healing on it. And he said over and over again that it's lawful to do good on the Sabbath. To visit someone. To write a letter. There are several things. Visiting the sick. Fellowshiping with fellow believers. Having a meal together. Edify. Encouraging one another. Writing a letter. Writing a card. Those are all things that are okay to do. Join the creation. You know, we talk about not watching any TV at all or video at all.

I can tell you there's a couple of videos you may be familiar with some of these. There's one on creation called Planet Earth. What was it? Yes. Entitled Planet Earth as You've Never Seen It Before by the BBC. Anybody familiar with that? That is the most striking, clear video of the beauty of what God has made that I have ever witnessed before.

Planet Earth as you've never seen it before. Our children gave us this set of DVDs and I've never seen anything like it. It is inspiring to see. You know, there's another one that I could recommend. Journey to the Edge of Creation by the Moody Institute. Brother, that's inspiring. They take you on a journey across the universe and you think, how great is God to do all of this?

Someone once asked a question. If you could not find a way to survive because every occupation required you to work on Saturday, would you work on the Sabbath? You know, the same situation had happened to some of the brethren in Sri Lanka. I wasn't the pastor at that time there. It was somebody else. But they said this was just the advice they needed to hear.

Because there were a couple of leaders in the congregation in Sri Lanka that were having a hard time finding work. And all of a sudden, their financial situation was getting more critical as the bank account went lower and lower and lower. So they came to the minister and they said, we don't think we can provide for our families unless we can work on the Sabbath. He basically took his Bible and he handed it to them and he said, you tell me where it says in the scripture that we can work on this holy day.

And he said that was the smartest and wisest advice that they got from that particular pastor. Eventually they got jobs and everything worked out. But you know, sometimes the Sabbath, the blessing that it is, can also be a test commandment where God takes you right up to the edge. And he needs to know.

It's beyond today's video we saw not too long ago one of the congregations about the blessings of the Sabbath. Someone said they were tested. Their bank account got down to $10 before God provided a job for them. It hung in there. You know, some people would have bailed before it got down to $10. Someone else asked the question, is the Sabbath worth dying for?

Tough question. Do you know we have the example of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that they were willing to die not to disobey the first and second commandments about we've got Obey God and Him alone and we don't bow down to any images.

They were willing to do that for the first and second commandments. Those are tough questions, brethren. Tough questions. Well, let's conclude here. Let's go over to Hebrews chapter 2. You know, historically, brethren, the vast amount of people who have held their ground, Obey God, Sabbath, command have found a way to make it through the problem and actually ultimately been blessed. But it's not always easy. It's not always easy. But you know, you come to a period of time where you eventually you're going to find yourself.

You're going to either decide to justify your actions or you realize you're going to have to carry out the command regardless of what you think or what other people think or say or do. It's one or the other. We're either going to justify ourselves or we're going to say, no, this is what God says. Hebrews chapter 2, verse 1. It says, therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we've heard, lest we drift away. The Israelites had drifted away, in a sense, from the Sabbath. For if the word spoken by angels proves steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?

Brethren, if we neglect one of God's commands, how will we escape? Israel, well, they really let, in part of their history, they let the slab slip through their fingers. Let's not let this precious, meaningful law slip away from our lives. Let's remember the Sabbath and to keep it holy.