New Covenant Heart, Part 2

Well, we want to welcome the congregation once again as we begin Part 2 of a series entitled A New Covenant Heart Towards Christian Responsibility. Some of you were not here last time, and because it's been a couple of weeks, I would also like to go over a little bit of the material that we covered last time so that whether you were here and or not, once we're done with some of the review, we can all move forward together. In our last visit, we focused on laying down some key foundational elements of the New Covenant life in Christ. We did that by anchoring ourselves in the scriptural reality that eternal salvation is a gift by God's grace, and that just as Abraham, who was the father of the faithful, we are not justified before God by our works, but by our belief and by our faith towards God. So we anchored the foundation of the New Covenant existence that we experience God's grace, and as he has come into our life, involved himself with us, invited us into his family, and remains involved with us, we come to him in faith and belief that the God of this universe, the sovereign of all, has chosen to be a part of our lives.

We also came to understand and appreciate that as New Covenant Christians, we don't obey God to gain or to get salvation by what we perform here below. But we yield to God, we yield to the sovereign because he has granted us the call of salvation. And those are wonderful words to put together, the call of salvation, because it is a calling. It is not whosoever will, but it is whosoever is called. And to recognize that God has visited our life and wants to be a part of us, and he wants us to be a part of his family, because of that, then we yield ourselves to the sovereign king of this universe in a faith-filled responsiveness to his instructions that are found in this holy word.

We concluded our first study by discovering that even though God offers us a spiritual rest, because remember how we got into the book of Hebrews, and especially in Hebrews 4, where it talks about this rest and that rest and this rest and that rest. Now they did not enter into the rest, and yet now God wants us to enter into a rest. We came to understand that even though God offers that spiritual rest by the ultimate Joshua, because the discussion in Hebrews was about, as Israel followed Joshua, they did not enter into the rest.

But we came to recognize that there is a greater Joshua, the New Testament, the New Covenant Joshua, that leads a people more from one bank of a river to another, but from one age to another, and we have the opportunity to follow that greater Joshua, who is Jesus Christ. And even though God offers a spiritual rest, which is the kingdom of God, we came to also understand something else, and that is simply this. There are two different rest that are mentioned in the book of Hebrews. Now some of you that were not here last week, that message can be made available to you.

It's not my desire to go into every step of that. We're just refreshing ourselves for a moment. But in the book of Hebrews, there's two different words for rest. One word is cataposis, and when the word cataposis with the K is used, that always refers to the spiritual rest, the ultimate rest in the kingdom of God, in its full manifestation. But there's another rest, because it's going through this discussion of the spiritual rest that God wants to afford everybody.

And it says that it is real, and it is going to be made available ultimately. But then it says with all of this stated, there remains a rest for the people of God. And we went through that discussion, and we talked about the aspect of Sabatismos Apolepitos versus cataposis.

And to recognize that whereas cataposis is talking about the aspect of a spiritual rest, the word Sabatismos that is used in Hebrews 4 and verse 9, let's go over there for a moment just to anchor ourselves in Scripture as we begin Hebrews 4. After this grand discussion, because again, let's understand what the book of Hebrews is about.

The book of Hebrews is to extol, to magnify, to lift up the ministry of Jesus Christ, both as Savior and as the one that through his earthly experience has now qualified to be our high priest. And the author of Hebrews is telling us that that which is in Christ, the Son of the Father, is so much more than all that has preceded. Be it Moses, be it Joshua, be it the voice of angels, be it the tabernacle of old that was back in the wilderness, all of that.

And so Christ keeps on being pushed up to declare in that sense a term that I'll use, the sufficiency of which is in Christ. So that's the thrust and the magnitude, the majesty of Hebrews. With all of that stated now, Hebrews 4 verse 9, that there remains therefore a rest for the people of God. In the Greek, that is Sabatismos, Apalepitos. That means even with all of this said, there remains in place, there is fixed this Sabatismos.

The word Sabatismos only appears here in Scripture. Whenever it appears outside of Scripture, in other religious literature, it always describes and defines the seventh-day observance of the seventh-day Sabbath, that 24-hour period. What is very interesting, the author of the book of Hebrews is saying, with all of this that we can grab a hold of, be a part of, and rejoice in, there also remains this, the seventh day. So we had that discussion.

Now that we've done that, let's now move forward and pick up where we left off, discussing the sovereignty of God in our lives as New Covenant Christians, and how we respond to that in faith into His Lordship in our lives. And I'd like to throw that word out there. That's going to be very, very important in the discussion that we begin today, the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and how that affects New Covenant Christians, and how that relates to the seventh-day Sabbath. But before we get there, let's go back a second to Hebrews 8. Hebrews 8, because I'm going to put a couple of terms together, a couple of titles. Hebrews 8. In Hebrews 8 and verse 6, let's notice one of the roles that God the Father has given His Son Jesus Christ. But now He, that's speaking of the Christ, He has obtained a more excellent ministry inasmuch as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. One of the functions of the Son is that He is this mediator of this better covenant based upon better promises. That's right in Scripture. That is locked in there. We also notice that as we go down to verse 10, how this covenant comes into our lives as Christians today. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. So it's talking about moving from inscriptions on stone to writings that are in our hearts and in our system. And not only that, but why? That just simply so that we understand rules? No! Let's take the Scripture to its end, that I might be their God, and that they shall be my people. It's always important to look at the pronouns. It kind of makes Bible study exciting. When you look at who the pronouns possess and who the pronouns are talking about, what we're talking about here, and this is what the new covenant is about, it is about a relationship, a relationship between He who is holy and eternal and the relationship that He wants to have with us down here below, and that this relationship goes from stone's card from Sinai to now the writing of God's Spirit in our minds and in our hearts. And Jesus is the mediator of that. You say, well, wow! So that really kind of lifts it right back up there when you read the book of Hebrews.

So maybe the Sabbath, we don't have to do it. Well, that's why as we look at Christ being a mediator, and that's one of those functions, one of those titles, now let's go to the book of Mark. Join me in Mark 2. Again, one of the great proclamations of Jesus Christ, one of what we might call those self-disclosures that He makes is we find in Mark 2 and verse 27.

And notice what it says, speaking here, breaking into thought, and He, again speaking of Christ and none other. This is not Moses. This is the second. That is the greater Moses, Jesus Christ, the ultimate lawgiver. And He said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Then notice what it says, startling.

It says, Therefore the Son of man is also the Lord of the Sabbath. The Lord of the Sabbath.

Basically, what He is saying here is simply this. Rather than abolishing the Sabbath with His presence and with His earthly ministry, rather than abrogating the Sabbath and setting it aside, these are terms that are sometimes used in theological circles, He claims it. He says, I own it. He says, It is mine. Basically, what He does is this. I'm going to go over to the whiteboard for a moment. This is my portable PowerPoint, but I think it'll make the point on this.

The seventh day, what He basically does, there's the word seventh, what He basically does, He says, wait a minute, just in case you don't get the point, I am putting my stamp on there. I am putting my signature on there. I am Jesus, and I am claiming it. It is all mine. It is not of man.

It is mine. I am the Lord of the Sabbath. Now, what is interesting, when you go to the Greek, and you never want to give more Greek than you'd be in a sermon, but the word there is kureos, with a kureos, not curiosity, but kureos. The term in the Greek is He has power, He has authority, and it means to have ownership over an item. Now, with that stated, interesting.

Here, the Son of Man and the Son of God, because remember, Jesus served a dual function and does. He is both the Son of God and also, you're with me, the Son of Man. He is the Son of all men, even though He's of the line of Judah. He dismisses by claiming it, by owning it, by saying it is my lordship over this day. It says the Sabbath belongs to the Godhead, belongs to Him. He is the Lord. It is not the private domain. It is not the private property of any one religion, any one denomination, or any man at large. It does not belong to Moses.

Jesus says, I am the Lord of the Sabbath. And He has come to show the balancing guide as to its benefits. It's interesting that when you begin to explore the Gospels, if you want to take an honest look at the Gospels, that more of the Gospels deal with the messages of Jesus Christ than anything else. The major teachings of Jesus, the greatest breadth and length of Gospel discussion, deals with the messages that He brought on and or about the use of the Sabbath. Basically, let's think of it this way. Here's how I like to describe it to all of you. Jesus came to earth to show how God and the flesh would observe and teach the Sabbath as a tool of grace and a day of spiritual freedom. Now, in all of these discussions that we're going to be having about Christian responsibilities that are found in the Bible, that's the handle that we're using on each of these. Are you with me? That each of these, be it the Sabbath, be it the biblical food laws, be it the subject of tithing, are not just simply works. They are a tool of grace, and they also allow us to express spiritual freedom down here below. Sometimes when people use, say, the word law, they look at it as a restrictive noose hung around their neck. They think of it as a burden. Jesus did not come with that message when it came to his father's law. He came expressing that rather than a noose around our neck, it is a rope to pull us up to understand how God loves and how God thinks. So with this amazing declaration then of divine ownership in place, let's go back to the beginning of time and to see what God desires all along from his creation and to appreciate this basic thought. If this will resonate with you, I hope it will because this is where we're going in this discussion just to the seventh day of how a holy God created a holy day for a holy people for a holy purpose. A holy God created a holy day for a holy people for a holy purpose. Can I ask a question of the audience for a moment?

Which one word was the handle for all of those terms?

You're sure? Okay, the word is holy, isn't it? A holy God created a holy day for a holy people for a holy purpose. Let's understand what that purpose is. The first point that I'm going to give you in this particular area of dealing with the seventh day Sabbath, the first point is this. A new covenant heart will understand that the Sabbath is forever a memorial of God's plural acts of creation. A new covenant heart will forever understand that the Sabbath is a memorial for God's plural acts of creation. What do I mean by that? When the new covenant heart understands that and expresses that, we begin to understand that the law was not simply fossilized in the sands of Sinai, but is alive. It is well. It is an active agent that God uses towards His kingdom. To appreciate this, let's go to the book of Genesis, which in the Greek literally means beginning. We've got to go back to the beginning of the story to understand the significance of the seventh day. As we do, we go to the creation story, which unfolds in Genesis 1, 2, and 3.

It's very interesting how the creation story plays out. We're not going to be reading all of it, because we need to focus on some other things. But it's interesting that as God created the earth, the seas, and all that in them is, He kind of stood back after each day and He kind of made a comment about it. Notice how this comes out in Genesis 1 and verse 4. God saw the light, that it was good, and God divided the light from the darkness. But the comment there in verse 4 is, He said, it is good. Come down to verse 12 for a moment. He's talking about the aspect of the seeds and the fruit that we're developing, that day of creation. Notice at the end of verse 12, again, God makes a comment about how things are going. We've all said that, whether we've been on a vacation, we're on the job, or maybe even sometimes in church. How's it going? So far, so good. And so God's kind of going down this list, and He's going through the creation, and He backs away as a creator. He looks at this masterpiece that's developing, and He says it is good in verse 12. Then join me in verse 18. Again, He separates the day and the night and the light from the darkness. And again, verse 18, notice what it says, and God saw that it was good. Now, what is very interesting is we're going down through the different days of creation. So far, so good. And God says it is good. But then we notice something happens here in verse 26. Then God said, Let us make man in our image according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the earth. And so God, in verse 27, created man in His own image in the image of God. He created him male and female, and He created them. Now, as this discussion goes, notice verse 31, then God makes a comment. And then God saw everything that He had made, everything. And indeed, notice now the comment changes. Have you ever noticed that before? It goes from good.

Now there's a new term. Because now God has made something that is above the animal kind, above the plant kind, something that is made after His image and in His likeness. And notice what God said.

And it was very good. Now that's interesting. It's very good, the special creation.

Because there was the relationship now. It's just not dogs and cats and fish and lizards. Well, God rules over that. God doesn't have a relationship with it. He made something. He made a man and He made a woman in His image. That He might have a relationship, a bonding that might be there. And He says it's very good. Now, then you notice where it says that He backed off chapter 2 verse 1. Thus the heavens and the earth and all the host were finished. Now here comes the big question that maybe you've never entertained in your mind before. If it was all finished, why not stop at six days? Why not stop at six days? Why not stop while you're ahead?

Sometimes I haven't done that with things I've done in my life. Maybe you're a little bit like me. You should have just stopped while you're ahead. And right now the temperature says very, very good. Why the seventh day? If everything has been created and if everything is good, why the seventh day? Well, let's proceed to verse 2 of chapter 2 and let's read it. And on the seventh day, God ended His work, which He had done. And He rested on the seventh day from all His work, which He had done. And then God blessed the seventh day and He sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work, which God had created and had made. It says that He rested on the seventh day.

It's interesting that the word here, and for those of you, I'm not going to spell all the words out. I have a handout for you afterwards with some of the words that we're going to use in Hebrew and Greek, and there'll be a handout on the information table. When it says that He rested, the term there is Shabbat. The term is Shabbat. And that Hebrew word means that He ceased. He ceased from all the work He had done to this point. And that is what is important to understand there, because the question comes, did God have to stop because He was tired? Does your God above get pooped out?

Does He just go, oh man, I need a break. This is exhausting stuff down here. I got into more than I thought, you know, I didn't think I could handle all this, and I just need to back off now, and I need to rest. Now, some of you are smiling right now, but here's the thought. Is that the God that you worship that needs a nap, that needs to take a break, that just gets so tired that He says, I got so tired that's why I made the Sabbath day. That flies in the face of Isaiah 40 in verse 28, where it says that God does not sleep, neither does He get weary. With all of this thought, then, allow me to bring us to point on these verses.

While God set us an example, and He did rest on the seventh day, this is not simply about example. I said it is about example, but it is not simply about example. He ceased to tell us something.

This is about mission. I know oftentimes we have reflected on this as example, and yes, it is. And God did make it holy, and He did bless, and He did rest on it. But if we only leave it there, then we are not looking at this through a New Covenant heart and with New Covenant eyes. He did it to tell us the mission was not over. The power of these words is telling us that God ceased from what He was doing then, now, and now was going to perform and focus on a spiritual labor and a spiritual work. Because even as humanity was made in God's image and likeness, at that point it is only physical in this world of sticks and stones and flesh and blood.

God has a much far greater purpose that He wanted to bring out. He not only ceased, but notice what it says in verse 3. It says that God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. It's interesting. The word there is kadash. He blessed it. That means He made it pure, He cleaned and holy and sacred and hallowed and consecrated it and He dedicated it.

That one little word, kadash, has all of those different definitions. When you say that and you recognize that God put Himself into this day and He blessed it, it must have some significance for us to understand. They say, well, how did God make the Sabbath day holy? How did He do that?

Because in it, He rested or He placed His presence in it. If God's presence can make ground holy, remember the story of Moses? Remember when Moses approached the burning bush and he said, Moses, take off the sandals. You're on holy ground. Well, if God can make ground holy, God can also make time holy by His presence. It's interesting, and I've heard this discussion before. Some will say, well, you know when you first look at it, it sounds interesting, but the Sabbath day is not mentioned in this account. They'll say the Sabbath day is mentioned, but the term Sabbath is not mentioned in these accounts in Genesis 1 and in Genesis 2.

Let's understand what's being discussed here. To say that, may I suggest, is disingenuous.

While the noun term Sabbath is not used in Genesis 1 or Genesis 2, the very word ceased means Shabbat comes from the Hebrew, Shabbat. So while the noun is not used, the verb is used.

The verb that means to cease, to stop, to move forward onto something else. And not only that, but we see that the note of sanctification in this day, the seventh day, has God's complete blessing.

When you understand that the term Shabbat as a verb is used in dealing with cease, and you understand that God blessed this seventh day, I would suggest to you that 1 plus 1 equals 2. And also, this element of holiness is introduced. What is the tie-in? God makes this day holy.

The seventh day, please hear this for a moment, the seventh day creation separates the world of man from the world that God desires for man. And God is still working. Join me if you would in Ephesians 2 and verse 10. Ephesians 2 and verse 10.

Sometimes people will think that, well, you know, God, you know, said, well, we believe in a first cause. We believe in this first force. But then God becomes somewhat of an absentee cosmic landlord that's out there and doesn't seem to be involved. But notice some of these verses here, like in Ephesians 2 and verse 10. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

It's interesting that God is still laboring. He is still at work, but He's not just working on a garden of old back in Eden. He's not just simply working on lizards and fish and sunsets and sunrises and moons and stars. His work now is in the inner person, the inner man, the inner woman. Join me in another thought here. Join me in a scripture that we've often looked at and used in services. But join me in another of Paul's writings in Philippians 1. Philippians 1. And let's again notice something. Maybe you've never thought of it in the light of the Sabbath day.

Philippians 1, picking up the thought in verse 6. Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

God is not taking a siesta, friends. God has not gone away from the office.

On that seventh day, as God ceased from His labors and as He blessed it and as He made this day holy, He was moving from one effort, which is physical, and now moving towards the prime point of His creation to establish a family of immortal children in His family. And that is what God is doing today. Thus the Sabbath is a holy creation. It's a memorial of creation to link man with God and to remind us that the creation is not yet complete.

Now, I have a thought I want to ask you. Just pause here. How many of you think of that way? That you think of the Sabbath as just simply being a dead end of old as the end of creation, rather than the bridge of what God is desiring to create in each and every one of us today as New Covenant Christians? Very important because God wants you and He wants me, ultimately, to move away from this world of sticks and stones and become like the Maker.

So simply put, there is a present tense and a future element to the Sabbath. Eden is where it started, but there is further to go, more to obtain. Now, as we go back to the story here in Genesis, many of us understand or know the story of Adam and Eve. What we also recognize is that Adam and Eve rejected this holiness that God offered to them. He offered to them more than rules. He offered a relationship. He says, I want to be your God and I want you to be my family.

And you can partake of every tree of the garden. Save this one. Now, he wasn't talking about the tree of life that would have brought forth a relationship with him. He was talking about the tree of good and evil. He said, you can have access to true and real life. You just simply have to believe. You have to believe that in me is full sufficiency of what I offer you to do and the responsibilities that I give you will be enough. Oftentimes, people, when you go to reading a theological book or go to seminary, they'll talk about a term that I'd like to share with you for a moment. They'll discuss the fall of man. How many of you heard that term before, perchance? The fall of man. The reality of the story of Genesis is that man never fell.

Seemingly, from the very beginning, man never climbed up on the rock to begin with. Adam and Eve rejected the sufficiency of God, the sufficiency of the Word. And they took to themselves, as it says, and Eve took of the fruit. They wanted to be like God their way, do their thing, and by the works of their reach, the works of their arm, the works of what they brought to themselves. They were trying to obtain what God alone has to give as what? A gift.

There is no amount of reaching, no amount of taking, no amount of doing. Remember what it said about Abraham in Romans? Abraham was justified by what he believed. He believed that in God it was enough and that God was sufficient. And what God would ask of him, as challenging as it might be, would be enough. And he wanted to please God because he believed in God. Adam and Eve didn't do that and they reached. It's kind of interesting when you go to Deuteronomy 12 verse 32. Join me there for a moment. Deuteronomy 12 and verse 32.

This was written after Adam and Eve, but it kind of describes a problem that they had and that all of us have at times as human beings.

Even as New Covenant Christians. But here's a grand principle that comes out of the Bible.

Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it. You shall not add to it, nor take away from it. Now, I want you to think about what you're doing in your life as a New Covenant Christian for a moment because, you know, Adam and Eve didn't really think that God is going to get all this excited because God will not mind if we add. We'll just kind of sample or add. We'll believe in God and we'll say that we'll believe in God and we kind of like to do what God says to do, but well, the other guy says to reach. So we'll add. Here's the challenge that we have with our human nature. Think this through for a second, friends. With God's way of life.

What are we adding that He has told us not to add? We say, well, I'm not an adder. Well, some of us then diminish or we subtract from the responsibilities that God asked us to do. Some people will say, well, you know, look, I don't observe the Seventh-day Sabbath because, well, every day is holy.

Have any of you ever heard that argument? Every day is holy.

As a New Covenant Christian, as one that worships a holy God, that is called you and me for a holy purpose, that has granted us a specific holy day, I strive to be holy before Him every day of the week. And thus, yes, I am a part of being a holy creation, but that does not separate the reality that there is a day that God has prescribed and set apart and put His presence in from the beginning to remind me that His work in you, in me, for all humanity, is not yet complete. Adam and Eve rejected. What is interesting then is that rejected the ways of God. God reintroduces this day, not in the book of Genesis, but elsewhere, not to persons, but to a new creation, a new nation called Israel. Join me if you would in Exodus 20 in verse 8.

In Exodus 20, in verse 8. And it's interesting as you go to Exodus 20 in verse 8, the first thing that He says is, remember the Sabbath day to keep it. Notice, holy. It's very interesting that word remember is very important. The word there in the Hebrew is zakar. You and I say remember, and we say, oh, I forgot. We tend to forget to remember, and we remember to forget. Therefore, we don't go any place. But notice what it says. Remember the Sabbath day. The Hebrew word leaves a much deeper meaning. It says, imprint, imprint the Sabbath day. Literally stamp it into your existence. Mark it into your environment. Remember the Sabbath day. To imprint it. Other thoughts here, when the word remember is used, is that the Sabbath day was already in existence. Sometimes people will say, well, the Sabbath day was given at Sinai. But actually, it had already been given to the children of Israel. Again, with the example of the manna found in Exodus 16, which I don't really have time to go over into right now. But beyond Sinai, because sometimes people that deal with the discussion of the Sabbath day kind of never move off of or get stuck on Sinai, allow me to take you back further to a verse that you might find interesting in Genesis 26 and verse 5. I do this carefully and hopefully responsibly. Let's understand that Israel has basically been out there for hundreds of years, apart from the land that they initially came from. Here's a new nation, a new conglomeration of tribes, and they need a story. They need a history. They need to know where they have come from. They need to be reminded of their fathers and their grandfathers.

Genesis 26, 5 is what I would call a linchpin verse in this discussion that we're having.

Because it's interesting, as God is inspiring Moses to write the book of Genesis, he takes them back to a singular figure. It is the man of faith. It is the man that believed God and took him out his word. It is the man that, as the people of antiquity were moving towards the cities of old in the river valleys of Egypt and Mesopotamia, as the stream of humanity was coming into the cities that were on the rivers, one man is asked to go the other direction.

While everybody is coming into the metropolis of their day, the man named Abram is asked to go out. I want you to think about this for a moment. Let's get a graphic figure. We've got the 15 out here. Out there. We've all been on traffic jams at one time or another on the 15, I'm sure.

Can you imagine as the traffic jam is moving south towards downtown, bumper to bumper?

Because everybody wants to go into the city. There is only one car coming up the other way. What is the model? Abraham. As all were moving towards the city, the man Abram, hearing the voice of God, believing in the sovereignty of God in his life and that God is sufficient and wanted to have a relationship with him, did what God asked to be done without question. What a difference from Adam and Eve. Here is the man that the Apostle Paul says in his epistles was justified before God because of what he believed. But now notice in that relationship with Genesis 6.26.5 because our belief and our faith is given definition than by what we do. Obedience translates our faith here on the ground because Abraham obeyed my voice, kept my charge, my commandments and my statutes and my laws.

I believe that this verse is put in here as a linchpin verse that ties Genesis. And what God wanted for humanity and what Adam and Eve rejected. And now what God is offering this new creation that has come from nothing as much as the nothing of the dirt of Eden.

This is not from the dirt of Eden, but this is from the mud of the banks of the Nile, this race of slaves that he says, now I will be your God and you will be my people.

And here's Abraham who kept my statutes, kept my charge, kept my commandments. Follow in his stature. What is interesting when you go back to Exodus 20, join me there for a moment, and you read the full commandment. It is very interesting that the commandment takes you back to the creation. Exodus 20 and verse 8, where it says, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shall you labor and do all of your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work. Neither shall your son, neither your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant, or your cattle. Nothing going on. Why? For in six days God made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and all that in them is. But then he rested, and he blessed the Sabbath. It is very interesting that it goes back to the creation story. This is what Israel is being given. They were being given an identity. Back in Egypt, and they had been exposed to that culture, it's interesting that in Egypt you didn't get rid of gods, you added gods. What would happen is like this. If you'd like to look up for a moment, basically what would happen is you'd discover a god and you'd prop him up on your mantle. Got a god for the weather. That's a non-god. That just fell.

Got a god to protect me from the alligators. That's the alligator god. Got a god of god for the sun.

And so what always happened in Egypt is basically you kept on adding to idols.

Idols that basically came from the creation. And the thought with the pantheon of Egyptian theology is you just kept on adding and adding and adding. Remember Deuteronomy 1232? Don't add.

Don't diminish. What is being revealed in the commandments is you have not just been chosen by any god. You have been selected to be a people by the creator god. The god that is above all of this. Thus what you need to do, I don't mean to wake anybody up there, out there, but basically you have to get rid of all of these. Take them off the mantle.

Well, what do I put up there then? That I can see you. That's a whole other discussion in the second commandment, isn't it? You shall make no other graven images. Boy, now that takes belief, doesn't it? Remember how it says Abraham was justified not by what he did, but by what he believed.

What was happening here, and I hope that shows you because what happened is probably some that have been culturalized by each of thought, well, we'll add this god. He'll be kind of our deliverer god. Then on Sinai he said, no, you've got to get rid of everything, and you've got to believe that I alone am sufficient. I alone am sufficient because I was there at creation. I made you.

Interesting. But now a new element is introduced to these people. Exodus 31.13. Exodus 31.13. Join me there for a moment because it not only goes to identify what God has done in the former creation or the creation now, God's acts of creation, plural, but now something else. It's not only a matter of identity and description of what has been done, but now what God is going to do with these people. Speak. Exodus 31.13. Speak to the children of Israel saying, Surely, my Sabbath, 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 sets you apart.

It is of note that now the Sabbath is not simply about that which has been, but is. Why do I say this, friends? The Sabbath is not a fossil from creation or Sinai. It is an act of agent in the people of God down through the ages. Notice he says, My Sabbath is not the Sabbath of Israel. It is not simply the Sabbath of the Jews. The Sabbath is not owned by Moses. My Sabbath, God claims that just as much as it is very interesting, sidebar discussion, that this God that is speaking to them is no less than the Word. The Word. The one that would later on become Jesus in the New Testament. The same one that said that I was there from the beginning. I am the one that led Israel. So it's very interesting that there's this claim and this authorship over the Sabbath. Interesting. And the major part is this, if you'll notice this, join me at the bottom of verse 13, that you may know. Why are you going to observe the Sabbath? That you may know that I am the Lord. I do have an identity who sets you apart.

Understand something. This is not just simply about rules. It is about a relationship.

It is a relationship that our Father above and his Christ want to have with each and every one of us.

Now, what is interesting, Israel wouldn't obey God, just as Adam and Eve did. They lost their bearings. Join me if you would in Ezekiel 22.

And we're just about concluding here for today. Ezekiel 22 and in verse 26. Let's understand how seriously our Father above and his Christ take it when people of faith do not yield to his sovereignty and believe that his way, his love, and yes, his dictates in our life. God does have a claim on us. He is our sovereign. What happens when we don't yield to that? He speaks of priests, church figures, church folk that have violated my law, profaned my holy things. They have not distinguished between the holy and the unholy. Neither have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean. And notice, and they have hidden their eyes from my Sabbaths so that I am profaned amongst them. God continually, both in the Old Testament and under the tutorship of the Christ in the New Testament, claims the Sabbath day for himself.

It is his creation. It is not simply the creation of Israel, the Jewish folk, or even the private property of any given group on God's earth today. It belongs to God for a purpose. Why? To remind us he's still working. What is the one thing that Jesus said when the crowd asked him a question? He says, I want you to get something, folk. He says, even until now, my father works, and so do I. But it's a different form of creation. It is no longer the physical. It is the spiritual.

Israel of old rejected the seventh day Sabbath. Allow me to make a bridge thought here by turning to Galatians 6 16. Galatians 6 16, because so often we focus on the Israel of old.

But maybe some of you are hearing this verse for the very first time. Did you recognize that Israel exists today? It's interesting how Paul refers to this in the book of Galatians 6.

And as many walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and notice upon the Israel of God. These are people that are not under the old covenant, but those that are partakers of now the new covenant, a spiritual nation. And as the author of Hebrews states, the remains in place this day for us to understand. To give us peace in a world devoid of peace. And it not only grants us physical rest from sunset to sunset, but an emotional and spiritual rest that God is in charge of His creation, and He is continuing to work on our behalf for the fulfillment of His plan.

Boy, do we need a rest. Let me use an example. How many of you have taken a rest from your cell phones recently? You know, I notice some people anymore that this is not about not this don't take me further when I'm talking about using an example. You can use your cell phone on the Sabbath. This is not the case what I'm talking about. But have you ever noticed how just today with everything that's coming at people with the internet and with the speed of thought and the speed of communication and all the interruptions that come, you know, I used to think it was bad enough when people had the cell phones and now everybody's doing this on the cell phone. See, I'm really just jealous. I can't do that. I can't text. But just everybody's like this. They've got to keep up. They've got to do this. They've got to be in the know. They've got to be there. They've got to do this. They've got to do this. They've got to do that. They've got to be here. They've got to answer. Aren't you like right now? I know some of you, I know you've got that vibrator in your pocket. You know that you've got to get to somebody. You've got to talk to somebody. It's just like really important, because if you don't, then nothing's going to happen. I'm just getting all nervous about it. I can see some of you shaking out there right now. It's either the coffee, the texting, or whatever, right? With the holy Sabbath day, God says, step back. Don't worry about your works, your labor, your ability, what you'll do, what you can't do, what you can't reach out to, what you don't know.

I've already got a plan in place. I've got a covenant in place. I've got a Savior in place.

I've got a purpose for you in place, but you're not going to be able to do it on your own. It's not going to be by the works of your hand. When you and I are blessed by observing the seventh-day Sabbath, and when we are not about our industrial effort, when we're not about trying to survive in this world of the rat race and the hamster wheel out here, but I've got to keep on. If I don't, if I don't, if I don't, it sounds like works to me. It sounds like I'm trying to save myself, of myself, by myself, because I, well, I love myself, and if I don't, who will? See, that's where the confidence comes in, and that's where the beauty of the new covenant comes in, to recognize that we are loved, that we are redeemed, that God's favor shines upon us, that there is nothing on this earth of and by ourselves, all of our good text messaging, all of our cell phones, all of our computer skills, all of our good looks that are turning into bad looks, that are turning into mid-looks, whatever look you have. It's not going to move us forward in the world, in the plan, that God wants to bestow upon us. The seventh day, as it rolls around every week, reminds us that it's not by our works, but it's by God's grace, and that is why the Sabbath day is a tool of grace. That's where we're going to leave it today. Got six more points to go. But why? Because in our discussions that we're going to be going through, it is not just simply about a day. Our worship is not just simply, our worship is on a day, but our worship is towards the one that created the day, and to remind us that God is yet by his grace, by his great love for us, desiring to accomplish his works in us in a new and powerful way.