Sabbath, Part 2

Jesus said, the Sabbath was made for man. Actually, all of God's laws were made for man, for the benefit of man, for the blessing of man. The purpose of all of what God does and has done, has created, and the future is for our good. It says a blessing. In Deuteronomy 30, verse 16, God commands these things so that we benefit from them, so that our time here as humans and our future life in His Kingdom are maximized as far as the potential goes.

Deuteronomy 30, verse 16, He says, In that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, have children. And the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. You and I are on a journey to a land which we are going to possess, to inherit and co-possess with the God family. It's a promised land, an eternal promised land. And God's weekly Sabbath is an integral part of our journey to that promised land. In fact, this day, the seventh day, represents the seven thousandth year period of God finally taking control of this world and Jesus Christ reigning here. This day is a forecast, in a sense a foretest, a foretaste of the time in which we will be part of the Kingdom of God. And mankind will be blessed by that Kingdom.

Last time in the sermon entitled, Sabbath Part 1, God's Blessing to His People, we discovered the purpose of the Sabbath day, the meaning of this day, the sign that this day is, and a little bit about the future of what the Sabbath portends through the various miracles that Christ gave on the Sabbath.

Today in Sabbath Part 2, a Sabbath for the saints. I'd like to examine the proper observance of God's weekly Holy Day by those He has called at this time, the end-time saints. I've organized the sermon again into distinct parts. I'll call them points. It's not so much points, but it helps me to organize it into different topics.

So we'll start out with the first one. Point 1 is, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. That is a direct quote from Hebrews 4. There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. Obedience to God is an absolute prerequisite for receiving the rest that God offers both now and forever to those whom He is calling.

Rest can mean resting from one's endeavors, like God rested from His endeavor of creating the world after six days. So you and I can rest from our physical, material, home-based pursuits that we need in order to get by. And we can then work on this day, as God does, on spiritual things. We can focus and be wholeheartedly motivated by the principles of godliness on this day. And that in itself is a type of rest. It's a rest from the commotion, a rest from the strained relationships, a rest from the frustrations.

I wrote the ministry yesterday or last evening, this is the Sabbath that's coming on, about Sabbath music on the Elders Forum. And I mentioned that it would be nice if some of us in the ministry would share some of the favorite Sabbath music that we enjoy, so that we would know some other pieces that make the Sabbath kind of special when you're driving the long halls between services or whatever we sometimes do. One man wrote back and said, In my job I have been stressed all week.

It has been so stressful. And when you mentioned the Pachelbel's cannon I came in and when the Sabbath started, I put it on. And oh, it is so restful from the chaos of my week to shift to a different kind of mentality. And so it is. The Sabbath is a different type of mentality. God speaks of a rest that we are to have from our weekly endeavors.

And He also speaks of a rest that the world will have from all the chaos, the sin, the confusion. They'll get a rest from being under the God of this current world and be under a new God and come into a millennial rest. David, in Psalm 95, spoke of the promise of a rest for the people of God. Now those people, the physical house of Israel, were already in the Promised Land. They were in Palestine, as it later became called. This was long after it was settled. So that rest was not what he was referring to. He was talking of a greater rest yet to come, a prophesied rest. Let's go to Hebrews 4 and verse 6 and pick up on this particular theme.

Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, this is Hebrews 4 and verse 6, it being the rest spoken of in the previous verse, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, verse 7, he designates a certain day saying in David, Today, after such a long time it has been said, today if you will hear his voice do not harden your hearts. For if Joshua had given them rest, in other words, if just entering the Promised Land with Joshua when they stepped over the Jordan River, or being under David, if that had been the rest, the Sabbath rest, he would not have afterwards spoken of another day.

He would not have spoken of another day. Now we come to a controversial statement in verse 9. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. And this is the point here that I'd like to start out with. There remains a rest for the people of God. The Sabbath reminds us that God is our Creator, and now we find something is added to this. We know that the Sabbath is a sign between God and his people, that those people have been delivered by his strong arm from slavery, you and I, from slavery to sin, but now something's added.

And that is, the people of God, the saints, enter another rest. There remains for us another rest, and that rest comes in two forms. One is the weekly rest. Yes, that remains. And here we are today, observing the Sabbath, which remains for the people of God. And then comes the return of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the firstfruits, the saints, and the restful thousand-year reign of Christ, where peace will be on earth.

There won't be war anymore. There won't be violence. There won't be sin. There won't be unhappiness. Because the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the seas, the Bible tells us. That's a wonderful time. In verse 11, notice, speaking to people like you and me, speaking to baptized people who have God's Spirit, they are the saints, they are going to be the firstfruits, he says, Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, that rest being the weekly Sabbath and the prophesied return of Jesus Christ, that rule, that millennial period. Lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience that we read about in earlier verses, or he was speaking of in earlier verses, about Israel disobeying and missing out on it.

Now that gift of firstfruits salvation was offered first to the Jews, but they rejected it. They disobeyed, they didn't want it. So Jesus Christ said, I called them into my wedding, to the supper, they didn't want to come, so go out and get others. Go out and get the common folk. And so God has filled his church ever since with a combination of the descendants of Israel and Gentiles, that we can all be part of the firstfruits. Verse 12, 4, 4 means because, because of what we talked about, 4, the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of the life and the spirit and the joints and the marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart.

Here we are at pre-passover season, and this is what's on our minds. We really need this Word. We need to live it, eat it. We need for God to give us our daily bread each day from His Word so that we can examine ourselves. And using God's laws, His Word, we can go in and discern and find.

It's almost as if we were being carved up and laid out on a table. You know, the knife, what He's talking about here, a two-edged sword, a knife's going to go in and open up everything. It's almost as if somebody's doing a post-mortem, you know, kind of inspection. There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him, to whom we must give account.

So as we look forward to what the Sabbath pictures in the future, He's saying, let's not miss out. Let's not get derailed like others have. But instead, let's be examining ourselves. Let's be looking as we look for what this Sabbath day pictures. Seeing then that we have a great High Priest, verse 14, who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us now, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

We're not in this alone. God didn't just sort of throw you out there and say, okay, I wonder if you'll make it. No, He's with you. He's in you. He's helping. The Sabbath is a reminder day and also a day in which God and Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Sabbath, are very involved with you, motivating you, encouraging you.

So the remains of Sabbath rest for the people of God. And that leads into the second point. God's Sabbath is commanded for His saints. It's very important that we understand who the Sabbath is commanded to, who are commanded to keep this day. God's intent for Sabbath service is contained in the Ten Commandments. Deuteronomy 5, verses 12 through 15, that commandment is stated very clearly. Let's notice it. Another aspect of it. Deuteronomy 5, verse 12, Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy as the Lord your God commanded you. Now we're told in 2 Corinthians 4, 4, that Satan is the God of this world.

God is not the God of this world. God has not written this book to the world at large. We find that most of these books were addressed to someone. Paul's letters, Christ spoke to, etc., etc., to certain people that God was working with.

And here it says, The Lord your God has commanded you, that six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. You and I were slaves in that symbolic Egypt, that life of sin we couldn't break out of. We were slaves to sin. And the Lord your God brought you out. He didn't bring anybody else out that's not been called and converted and baptized yet.

He brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. And therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. The Sabbath is an important reminder of the deliverance of the saints. And it's also a command that we are to remember, that we are to obey. Let's go to Romans 6 and read verses 16 through 23. Romans 6 is all about the baptism, the new covenant being established in our lives. For those of you who have been baptized, you have been united with Christ in his death, in the sense that your sins have been forgiven at your baptism. That's when his blood first applied to you.

That's when the covenant took place. And part of the covenant was he would wash away your sins and then give you the help of him living in you with the Father to help you overcome that nature. And so here in Romans 6, chapter 16, says, Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness? Now, he'd already covered in the early verses of this in verse 3, you've baptized into Jesus Christ, you're baptized in his death, you're raised, you're supposed to walk in a newness of life, it says in verse 4.

But now we come to the point that we're slaves of something, either slaves of God or slaves of sin. And he's asking the question, which are you going to be? Are you going to be of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness? He says, But God be thanked, that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. So there's that strong arm that came and delivered us from slavery to sin. In verse 22, But now having been set free from sin and having become slaves of God, we do owe God.

He created us, yes. He has promises, yes. But he bought you and me. He bought us with his blood. And we are now to be slaves of him. When we were slaves of sin, we were free from righteousness, verse 20. But now having been set free from sin, verse 22, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness and the end everlasting life. So again, this day is all about that deliverance and then continuing on in the grace of God, in his graciousness.

Like Mr. Kubik was saying last week, that you have a special relationship. You're in a special category with God. That continues as long as we are doing our best to become like him. In the last sermon, we saw how Jesus rejected the hypercritical legalism of the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the scribes. However, in putting down, in a sense, and minimizing their fastidious following of rules and laws that they had made themselves and added themselves, Jesus in no way creates the concept of legalism in association with obeying God, or legalism as far as keeping this day holy.

Jesus' teachings in the New Testament, along with the entire New Testament itself, makes one thing very, very clear, and that is obedience equates to righteousness. Proper obedience to God is not legalism. And disobedience is equated with rebellion, a sin of witchcraft, associated with Satan and the demons and those who will not be in the kingdom of God. In Matthew 5, verse 19, Jesus made statements about the law. And one thing he said was, you've heard in times past how this was commanded or that was said, but now I'm magnifying that.

It's not just the letter of the law anymore. Now it's the spirit of those. You're to keep it all with my help. When we come down to verse 19, he summarizes here those who would think that maybe he was saying you don't have to obey the law under the New Covenant. He said, whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven.

But whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Now, verse 20, notice this. After minimizing the Pharisees, etc., and their rules, he says, for I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. So there's nothing contrary to real conversion and real Christianity in obeying God.

Conversion is really coming to understand God's law and the purpose of the law. It's not coming to do away with it and replace it. It's really coming to desire it, to desire to live it in all of its details, to appreciate it, to appreciate the Savior that allows us to live that law, and then to receive the Helper, to help us keep that law. But it certainly remains for us to obey our Lord and our Master, not just give it lip service.

Oh, yes, he's our Lord, but he's not really over me and my Master, but I don't have to do anything he says. That would just be crazy. The Bible tells us it's the righteous that inherit the kingdom and the sinners are out. An example of that is one of the last things written in the Bible, Revelation 21, verses 14 and 15. Here the whole Bible is wrapping up. Jesus Christ is talking in red letters. And he says, I'm coming quickly and my reward is with me in verse 12, to give to everyone according to his word.

Now verse 14, Blessed, O how supremely blessed are those who do his commandments. There it is. There's the summary of the New Testament, of the whole Bible, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city. Remember back in Revelation chapter 3 when he talks about talking to the Philadelphia church, he says, I've got the key to those gates and nobody gets in unless I let him in.

No man can open those gates and no man can shut those gates. I control the gates. There are many scriptures I was reading through this morning about the gates of Jerusalem. Spiritual analogies or physical things that happen with those gates in Jerusalem. You remember that Nehemiah locked down those gates for the Sabbath and wouldn't let people buy or sell or get in and out.

Those gates were locked several times. And now we find with New Jerusalem, which has just been described in the previous chapter here, with New Jerusalem is Jesus Christ who has the keys. He's got the keys to those gates. And he says, blessed are those who keep his commandments that they may have the right to enter through the gates into the city. Verse 15, but outside are people who can't get through. They can't come in. Outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters and whoever loves and practices a lie.

We don't want to miss out. And therefore, our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of any humans if we even want to get into God's kingdom. The third point is the Sabbath is a holy assembly. A holy assembly. Let's notice a detail back in Leviticus 23. Verse 1. Leviticus 23. And verse 1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, The feasts of the Lord. These aren't your feasts, Moses. These aren't Israel's feasts. These are my feasts.

The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations. Now here's the main part of this point. The word convocation in Hebrew is mikra. It's a holy mikra, and a mikra is a calling together and a sacred assembly. It says, These are my feasts. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy mikra, a holy calling together, a holy assembly.

Notice the name that is used there, the term that is used. It's not about staying home. It's not about being alone. It's not about being in a little group somewhere in twosies and threesies. It's about a convoking of an assembly, and that is holy to God. Now we might ask the question here, is there balance to obey in God? We all like to be balanced, right? Is there balance in obeying God? Is there a time when, well, I want to be balanced. I want to obey God a lot of the time, but sometimes just to be balanced, I have to disobey.

Wait a minute, that doesn't sound right, does it? So when is it that we would not assemble on the Sabbath? That's a good question. I think it's a good question for me and you and everybody. When would we avoid a holy assembly that God has called? Maybe we might say, well, I just need to take a Sabbath off for myself. I've been a little stressed. Maybe I need to take a Sabbath off and be with friends that aren't in the church, family, or, I don't know, go do something else, you know, be balanced.

Well, if it's a holy assembly that's holy, then is there balance in obeying God? But some people say, well, yeah, well, I don't need to go to a holy assembly because, you know, it says in the Bible where two or three are gathered in my name, I'm there with them. So, I don't need an assembly. Or two is an assembly. You know, that statement by Jesus where two or more are gathered in my name, I believe, was first used by the Protestants in the 14th and 15th centuries to avoid going to Catholic Mass.

Because they went on to break with the Catholic Church. And today it is often used by Protestant laity to avoid going to church on Sunday. It's funny how this changes over through time. And sadly, sometimes it's used by people in the church who are unskilled with a word to think that wherever two or three are gathered, there's a church service going on.

And God is in the midst of them. What did Jesus really say? The answer will shock some. But I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning the statement that Christ made about where two or three are gathered in my name. I'm there in the midst of them. And somehow associate that with anything to do with the Sabbath. So I'd like to take just a little bit of time here and go through this so that you will be educated and fully aware.

Let's look at Matthew chapter 18 and see what was said and see what Christ was referring to when He made that statement. In actual fact, the whole chapter 18 of Matthew is dealing with a single subject. And that subject is offenses. You might not think of it because we use this chapter for so many different things. Blessing of little children, dealing with your brother, going to your brother, etc., etc. But really, the topic here is a singular topic. Let's take a look. At that time, the disciples, not the masses, but the disciples who would be the apostles in the church, the leaders, came to Jesus, saying then, Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

And Jesus called a little child to Him. The little child here is an important integral part to part of this chapter. Jesus said, Assuredly, I say to you, I'm talking to you as the leaders. Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. And now He deals with the concept of causing offenses.

Who causes offenses on these little children? Verse 6, Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

Verse 10, Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones. Don't just offend them and cast them off. For I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. He's talking about people in His church, the children, God's children. He's equating that to these little kids. But He's talking about people who God is bringing along, whom the Father is drawing.

You better not mess with those whom the Father is drawing. That's the lesson here. That's the lesson of the whole chapter. Don't mess with those whom the Father is drawing. They are precious. He's like, You want to come mess with my grandkids? You're going to mess with me. You know how that goes.

The Father is that much more possessive, that much more loving of His begotten children, whom He has determined will have a part in the first resurrection at this time. And so He says, You mess with one of those. Be better if a millstone were around your neck and you were thrown in the sea. You don't want to get anything worse than that happens to you. So if you do that, just get your own millstone and hop in the sea. Otherwise, God is going to come after you. And then the angels He brings in next. He's got a force of angels that are watching out for Him as well. Don't offend them. Verse 11, For the Son of man has come to save that which was lost. Now you're messing with me and my whole purpose for coming here. Don't offend one another and cause offenses. Now, next we're going to find that Jesus Christ is very concerned about offenses. He says, What do you think, verse 12, if a man has a hundred sheep and one goes astray, doesn't he leave the ninety-nine and go into the mountains and seek the one that's straying? Verse 14, Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. And if you and I are causing them to perish, then guess where the crosshairs are pointed? That's not a good position to be in. Now He deals with becoming offended. What if you are one of the little ones that becomes offended? Verse 15, Moreover, if your brother sins against you, you shouldn't be offended. Don't get offended. There are ways out of this.

You go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. And if he hears you, you have gained your brother. In other words, you have not been offended by your brother. You have not separated. You see, offense separates people. If I get offended, then I don't have anything to do with you. We've got this wall between us. We don't talk.

But if you can get a conversation going to where you can resolve that, then you are not separated from your brother. And no offense has taken place. And this would be very important in the eyes of God for all of our sins and offenses to be broken down and worked through. Because He doesn't want to lose any of us.

Verse 16, But if he will not hear, this is so important, take with you one or two more that by the mouth of two witnesses every word may be established. Now he goes into dealing with offenders.

And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. Tell it to the ministry, this offending person.

Now we come to what does the ministry do with this offense and this offender? Ministerial judgments about an offense and an offender are dealt with next.

Assuredly I say to you, the apostles, to the ministry that will follow you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Now it sounds here, and the Catholic church took liberty with this by saying, aha, you see, whatever the ministry binds on earth, God will bind in heaven. Whatever the ministry looses on earth will be loosed in heaven. So we're calling the shots, you see, and God has to do what we want. Sounds like a little reverse there, doesn't it? And actually in the Greek, the intonation here is quite the opposite. The intonation here is, it doesn't come out well in the English, but whatever you bind on earth, you will be seeking to find what God has bound in heaven and so bind it on earth.

See? It is God's will that you will be looking for and so applying it in these situations. So ministers are seeking to bind on earth what God has already determined. And we do that when it comes to various issues that come before the ministry. We have to go into the Word of God. We have certain teams who review and research and pray and fast and we try to come to what God's decision is. And so that is the intent here of this passage. In verse 19, again, it's talking here to the ministry in this process of resolving conflict. I say to you that if two of you agree on earth about any judicial matter, the Greek phrase here is peri-pantos-pragmatos. And it can only mean binding on earth, agreeing on earth about a judicial matter. It will be done for them by my Father in heaven. See? So God is going to inspire them. He's going to help them. Now we come to verse 20. 4, the Greek word here, because of this, where two or three of the ministry are gathered together about any judicial matter in my name, Expositor's Bible commentary says the meaning of this passage is restricted by the context and by the phrase peri-pantos-pragmatos, which is about any judicial matter. Then Jesus said, I am there in the midst of them. In other words, God is involved in those very important matters that are so precious to Him about the offense that one of His sheep might cause to another that might cause some to bolt out of the herd or out of the flock.

I'll quote you Psalm 82 and verse 1. It says, God stands in the congregation of the mighty. He judges among the judges. So here when judgment is being passed and people are seeking God's will, it is God who is doing the judging, and it is His decision that is being sought.

So it's important for every decision that is made by the shepherds to be the decision that was made by the great shepherd. And so this cannot be taken lightly. It's very important. And Christ is showing how important and how God is involved here.

Now, the point that I have given in point three here is that the Sabbath is a holy assembly. Don't let somebody con you into thinking that where two or three are gathered together, God is with them on the Sabbath day. It is not a biblical concept. It's not a biblical statement. God is where the assembly is, where He's placed His name, where His shepherds are teaching and feeding.

The Sabbath as an assembly is a test commandment. Why do some fail the test? Well, some say, I'm busy. Some say, I don't need a church. Some might say, well, there's two plus of us. Or there isn't a church that believes just like I do.

The result of any type of thinking where we turn down the opportunity to assemble where God is, where He's placing His name, where He's working, is an independence of our mind, an independent spirit, an independent spirit that wants to avoid authority. It doesn't want to come under authority, and conveniently it can excuse itself from assembling and thereby excuse itself from being under any authority.

What mind does that remind you of? Is that something of God or something that Lucifer once began to think? We find the mind of God reflected in Hebrews 10 and verse 25. Hebrews 10 and verse 25.

Let's start in verse 24. And let us consider one another. You can't consider one another if you're not with one another. But let's consider one another to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. See, the Sabbath is a holy assembly, and yet He says here, as is the manner of some, some were not assembling. Some are not assembling. That's their manner. You know, we find in the Bible several times Jesus, as was His manner on the Sabbath, the apostles, as were their manner on the Sabbath. And then we read here of another group forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some. It's not right. It's not godly. And so I wanted to bring that out to you today so that we can be exhorting one another and so much more as you see the day approaching. This is an important day for the saints to be assembled together, encouraging one another, stirring up love and good works, and so much more as we see the day of the Lord approaching. The fourth point I have is the Sabbath is a time to be fed through God's shepherds. I didn't say by God's shepherds, through God's shepherds. I know more than probably anybody else that the only valuable food is going to come from God the Father through Jesus Christ through me. If I ever think that some of it's going to come from me, I guarantee you we'd all be wasting our time. And so it's a time to be fed by God through the shepherds. In the New Testament, there's a statement in the New Living Translation that says, Every Sabbath day Jesus went into the synagogue and taught the people. It's important to be taught. That's what Jesus did. He set the example. That's where the teaching is, apart from just having the Bible ourselves, which few people have ever had down through time. Sabbath is a time for teaching. In Acts 17, verse 2, I'm going to just read you a few Scriptures here.

Then Paul, as his custom was, went into them and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead. Sabbath is all about the Passover. It's all about the death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, the salvation that comes through Christ. That's what Paul taught week after week, as Jesus himself taught about the Kingdom of God. In 2 Timothy 4, verse 2, we find that it's the shepherds who are commanded to preach and teach. They are the ones that God supports in preaching and teaching. It doesn't come through other sources. I know we're all people and we all ought to be created the same and we all ought to be equal and everything else, but it's not the way it works. 2 Timothy 4, verse 2, Paul tells Timothy, You preach the Word. Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and teaching. That's the kind of food, the types of food that you and I need in our diets. I need it in mine, too, and I get it, believe me, from various sources. The Bible just carves me up. And I listen to other material that ministers teach and I have superiors as well. So we all get a diet. 1 Peter 5, verse 1, The elders who are among you I exhort, shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers. So we find that the teaching is going to come primarily on the Sabbath and it's going to come through those whom God has established as the teachers. You can read in Ephesians 4, verse 11, how Jesus Christ Himself established some to have the roles as pastors and teachers. And it's through those individuals that God teaches us. There's other teaching to be done on the Sabbath. And if you're going with me to Deuteronomy 5, verse 6, we find parents need to be teaching on the Sabbath. And I know parents do a wonderful job in sharing the Bible, the faith, sharing their excitement for God's way of life with the children. And it really radiates in the children's lives and it's exciting to see how they take on your beliefs and your way of living. And part of the reason for that is right here in Deuteronomy 5, where He commanded the Ten Commandments. Notice what He says in verse 6. These words which I command you today, the Ten Commandments, shall be in your heart. First, they're in your mind. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. So the Sabbath is a wonderful time for religious instruction, for teaching and learning of God's wondrous acts, His laws. The Sabbath itself is a reminder of the creation that God made and why He made the creation, the millennium, the kingdom, that it also represents in the future. That's why customary work is prohibited so we can focus on God, Godliness, His law, His plan, the future, salvation, and inspiring and encouraging loving deeds from one another. So this day is a day of communion. It's a holy assembly that we are to commune with one another, with God, as the family of God. It's the family day for learning and practicing the law and the way of life that God has shown us and He's helping us to live. The fifth thing that I'd like to cover is it's a time for loving and serving the saints. I know that many times it's easy if you have a tough work week, it's easy to just kick back on the Sabbath and become a lazy bum.

It's always an enjoyable time when you can be a lazy bum. You know what I mean? You've got the sweats, the coffee, no schedule, nobody's calling. You've just got time on your hands and it's like no other time. What are you going to do with that time? What are you going to do with that time?

Well, let's look over in Hebrews 10 and verse 23. Hebrews 10 and verse 23, where we were just a minute ago. Let's concentrate on something here. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And verse 24, and let us consider one another. Again, it's a day of assembly and we're to consider one another. It's not a day to consider yourself. Yet that's the temptation, isn't it? Oh, it's a salad. I just got all this time on myself and all this food in the fridge, just all this time.

And wow, what will I do with it? Will you consider one another and stir up love and good works? What is the intent of the law for which we are keeping and we're supposed to teach to our children and come learn about?

What is the intent of the law? Isn't it to become a loving, outgoing individual like God is? Actually, it is. Develop His character. God is love. He is gracious. He's serving. He's giving. He's merciful. He's helping. He's teaching. He's compassionate. He's thoughtful. These are good things to do on the Sabbath. This is what Christ did every Sabbath.

The primary test of Sabbath-keeping isn't whether you go to work or not. It's what you do on the Sabbath. The test of Sabbath-keeping is what you do on the Sabbath. Is it self-serving or is it outgoing? Self-serving could include working and entertainment, recreation, whatever else you want to pack into that. But if it's outgoing, you wouldn't think of being involved in your own pursuits or speaking your own words or that.

You're going to be thinking of God and godliness and helping others and praying for others and serving and helping and giving. It's going to be a great day. It's not about me. My preparation day for my Sabbath, my rest, my inspiration, my needs, my thoughts, my perfection. Some people pride themselves on doing nothing on the Sabbath. I heard a sermon by Mr. Franks this week and he said there was a guy at college who would lock himself in a closet and spend all 24 hours in the closet so that he didn't spoil his Sabbath.

You know, it's not about me. It's not about your plans, your ideas, talking shop, recreating. These things would take our focus off of what this day means. That's why sports, window shopping, TV, movies, books, or whatever would make you feel good. Oh, it's a special time. I don't get to read. I don't get to go to the movies that often. I don't get to go to the swap meet too often.

I don't get to go skiing at the lake, skiing in the mountains. Sabbath is special to me. You see, I might as well throw in I don't get double overtime, except on Saturdays. You know, rather than a person being so picky and precious about their Sabbath, I would never spend a dollar. I wouldn't spend a dime. You know, this filthy stuff, well, I guess I'm perfect because I don't even have any. I was going to show you one, but anyway, no, it's not because I'm better than you. I have less than you, maybe.

But if you were to come down off your little golden thing, I might tell myself, if you just get off your little golden perch there and think about somebody else, John Elliott, what could you do on the Sabbath? Well, I might find that somebody wasn't at church. You know, those flowers don't cost too much at the grocery store. It would sure be nice to cheer up somebody. You know, a little food for somebody wants to get together, and we didn't have anything planned, but taking a little food that would enhance the opportunity for us to get together and talk, that might be beneficial.

Of course, I could have planned ahead, but I didn't know about it, or this thing just came up, and I saw somebody at church, I didn't know they were coming, etc., etc. That'd sure be a lot better than me being little Mr. Perfect, you know? I didn't spend my dollar. Maybe put a little gas and go a little further to go see a shut-in or something, you see? What is the intent here? Take a toy to a child who's maybe had an accident or very ill, you heard about it. You didn't know about it, you know?

And so, point five is the Sabbath is a time to live the love that the Sabbath is all about. It's a time to experience it, to give it, to participate in it. You have more free time to be involved in helping and being concerned and compassionate to other people. If you have the mind of Christ, then use it in those ways. And the sixth point I'd like to give is make the Sabbath a delight. Make the Sabbath a delight. Let's make a list of 20 ways to make your Sabbath a delight. Hmm, what could we put on the list? Oh, I've got some ideas. Friday night dinner, special, romantic, just for two. Sabbath morning pie with donuts.

Sounds good. You could play inspiring, beautiful music throughout the house. You could take a walk and be inspired by the creation. Go to the mailbox and receive encouraging letters. Come to church and receive encouraging comments from other members. You could hear the sermon and lift my spirits.

I could share stories of my life with others because they love my stories. I could enjoy a meal with my friends after church and oh, what a delight it will be. That wasn't even 20 things. Maybe we could come up with more. Wonderful, yes. But what do all these things have in common? Self. Remember? Making the Sabbath more enjoyable for me. Is the Sabbath about oneself? Some people just love to hear Christian music, which is all about me. He lifts me up. He makes me feel good. Me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me. And oh, I was so inspired today. I heard about me. I got to sing about me. It's all about me.

I love the t-shirt that the little girl was wearing one day on the back. Yes, it really is all about me. I hope she wore it because it was funny, but I wasn't sure. She kind of looked like one of those little princesses, you know, going down the street. Haven't we been pursuing me for the last six days? You know, my needs, my bills, my work, my this, my that. You know, the Sabbath is a day to rest from me.

You know, that's really a lot of what the Sabbath is about. It's a rest from me. And we need some correction when it comes to how we keep the Sabbath. Let's go to Isaiah chapter 58 and get some correction. Okay? Isaiah chapter 58. Would let God give us this correction. Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet and tell my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

Remember, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. And here he's saying, tell my people their sins. Maybe God has something here he's telling his church. Maybe we're not necessarily just get up on the rooftops and yell this at everybody else, because I don't think everybody else is God's people or the spiritual house of Israel.

So let's look and see what he says here. In verse 13, if you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight. Now here's a question for you. Can you do both? Can you turn your foot from the Sabbath from doing your own pleasure and still call the Sabbath a delight? I couldn't growing up. I could not. I could either put my foot all over the Sabbath and call the delight, or I could take my foot off the Sabbath and hate it. It's like, when is this day going to end?

The sun would go down and stop. It wouldn't go down. Because it was not a delight. But he's asking you the question here. Can you turn your foot from the Sabbath from doing your pleasure and call the Sabbath a delight? The holy day of the Lord, honorable, and shall honor him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words.

Sounds like loving and giving and serving others, doesn't it? God and others. If you can do that, verse 14, and enjoy it, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord. Why? Because you've got a godly mentality. Because you're maturing. You're coming to the point where that's what you want to do.

That's what you want to be. You want to love and serve God more than anything. You want to love and serve your neighbor as much as yourself. This is a Sabbath of a convocation of group and family. It's not about you and your outfit or your Sabbath experience. It's about them and us. It takes a godly mentality to enjoy having the focus off of oneself and onto God and neighbor.

And that's why Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath. Because that's what he does. That's where his mind is. And we really need his mind. We need his faith. We need his love. We need his thoughts in us, in order for us to love and help and keep it properly.

Sabbath is a day for loving away from self. That's what Jesus Christ did on the Sabbath. That's why he is the Lord of the Sabbath. That's what he wants you and me to do on the Sabbath. Let's go to Philippians 2, verses 3-5. Philippians 2, beginning in verse 3.

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit. But in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.

Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. So after seeing now the mind type that we should have, perhaps we could list 20 even better ideas to make the Sabbath special. Come up with a different list, things like a special Friday night dinner, highlighting God's Holy Day, and discussing it with those at the table, maybe inviting people over.

Hospitality on the Sabbath for any or all that would benefit from getting together, time spent together. Sabbath morning, Bible study, shared and discussed, spiritual food shared with the family.

Hymns, praising God. Special music, praising God for the whole congregation. Giving encouragement to others personally in cards, phone calls, visits. Hearing inspired messages that motivate you to love and give and serve and obey even better.

Sharing what you've studied, what you've learned, your experiences, the biblical principles, the lessons of life with one another, and so much more so as you see the day approaching. Inclusive fellowshiping after church.

See, it is a day that's a convoking or a convocation, an assembly, a gathering together and a sharing of life.

In conclusion, in review, the Sabbath is a day that was made by God for man. It's a blessing, and we saints, God considers holy. And we're to keep this day holy. And it is a sign between God and us individually of our redemption, of our being rescued and a price paid for that rescue by Jesus Christ that we were about to celebrate and pass over.

In this season of spiritual examination, let's go to 1 Corinthians 13 and verse 5. As was mentioned in the sermon at today, 1 Corinthians 13 and verse 5. And as we keep the Sabbath, let's look and examine our roots. What are our spiritual roots? What are the roots that we have in the faith that we have? 1 Corinthians 13 and verse 5, examine yourselves. What are your roots? What really do you tap into as to whether you are in the faith? Test yourselves. See what this is all about. Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you, or indeed you are disqualified?

But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified. No, because we have God living in us, and our God is love, and He's promoting love. And His Kingdom is all about love, and this way of life is all about love, and we're here today celebrating all about the love and the future of the family of love. So for the true saints, the Sabbath is a present and future rest. A rest from worldliness, selfishness, pain and sorrow. It's a rest from Satan and his way of life. The Sabbath is a rest, and a future rest as well, that's possible by his sacrifice, his mercy, his graciousness to us.

It's a holy assembly of God's chosen. It's the time that God teaches and feeds us. It's a time to consider one another and stir up love and good works through God living in us. And when we keep the Sabbath in this way with the mind of Christ, it is truly a joy, and it's truly a delight.

Rather than the Sabbath, it truly remains one of God's greatest gifts for his end-time saints. It's a blessing both now and forever.