The Weekly Sabbath – Holy Time We Enjoy In All Seasons of the Year!

It was just a matter of days ago that we were keeping God's Feast at Tabernacles on the last great day. Some of us were keeping the feast on the last great day in our homes. We were not able to make it to the feast. Others of us traveled to different locations around this country and some around the world. This year's feast was especially inspiring in so many ways. In Wisconsin Dells, where I was, Mary and I were, I felt we had inspiring messages. Messages that were stirring, motivational, educational. Speaking about family today, there was one message I would like to highly recommend to those of you who have got children.

It was on Family Day. David Jones gave a sermon entitled, God's Family, the Army of the Lord. One of the best Family Day sermons I've heard in a long time. I recommend that they put that on the CD for next year. So if you've got a family, he goes through and talks about different roles. Just a really wonderful sermon. And there were, among many others, sermons and sermonettes, split sermons.

Special music. Dells is known for its special music. We had a new venue this year. The new venue presented challenges. Our choir and our band did a fantastic job with the challenges that were presented to them. The music was very inspirational and upholding the high quality that we expect at Wisconsin Dells. And there were also inspiring personal examples this year at Wisconsin Dells. I'm sure probably at the feast site you were at as well. We had one gentleman who, battling terminal cancer, who felt a need to be there in Wisconsin Dells.

He wanted to give. He wanted to serve. So he played in our band there in Wisconsin Dells with his terminal cancer. We also had David Jones' wife, Joy, with us. Joy has been battling a severe form of breast cancer all year. Well, most of the year. And we didn't know they were going to be able to make it. But not only did they make it, David gave a tremendous sermon. And Joy stepped in to direct the children's choir. And she did a very wonderful job. You know, very, very inspiring examples that took place.

But now, we're back home. Now we're back in Satan's world. Now we're battling Satan and Satan's society. Now we're battling our own human nature, which wants to drag us down. We wish the feast could be still going on, much longer. As a matter of fact, in one of the feast readings, Chuck Smith, festival coordinator in Granada, Granada said this, and I quote, 92 brethren in Granada are really feeling the millennium.

So much so, we would celebrate an extra eight days if we could. What a beautiful and peaceful setting God has blessed us with. The weather has been almost perfect, including breathtaking sunsets. God's spirit and joy are evident among all the brethren here. Do we really need to leave? Praying for you all that you are enjoying the best feast ever. So right now, brethren, we're here in the middle of October. We realize that God's holy days come three times in a year.

We realize the next set of holy days come in the spring, and that seems to be a long way off. We appreciate all of the holy days. They all have such tremendous meaning for us. But again, as it says in Deuteronomy 16.60, I'm not going to turn there.

You can put this in your notes. It says, three times a year all your mail shall appear before the Lord your God in a place which he chooses, at the feast of unleavened bread, feast of weeks, feast of tabernacles, and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed. Three times a year. The annual holy days are filled with encouragement. They're filled with hope. But do we have to wait until the springtime to have holy days that also give us a great deal of spiritual nourishment, encouragement, hope, and inspiration? Of course not. My theme for today's message, brethren, is very simple, and it is this. The weekly Sabbath is holy time we enjoy in all seasons of the year.

The weekly Sabbath is holy time we enjoy in all seasons of the year. We are so blessed. Our God knows how much we enjoy His annual holy days. But He doesn't leave us on empty, or He doesn't allow us to take the enthusiasm and the zeal that we've just been building up all feasts and last great day, and then nothing. Every week we've got a weekly Sabbath.

So that is my theme for today. We've got two points. You know it would be better than to know that there's just going to be two points. There will be sub points, and points of sub points, and that sort of thing. But point number one. Point number one. The Sabbath is our specially weekly appointment with God. The Sabbath is our special weekly appointment with God. Very special. Let's go back. I appreciate very much the sermonette that we had today.

And I'll be touching on some of the themes that Mr. Spizak touched on. I think God inspired it to be that way. Let's go over to Leviticus 23. And we want to read the first three verses of this very foundational chapter. Leviticus 23, verse 1. Did you ever wonder why it is that in going through all of the holy days of God, the weekly Sabbath is listed first? Why is that? Well, I can conjecture an answer to that. An answer might be that the weekly Sabbath encapsulates the plan of God. Because you've got six days when work is to be done, which represents 6,000 years of mankind laboring on this planet. Then you've got the Sabbath. You've got that seventh day. And of course, in God's plan of salvation, you've got the millennium. And the millennium is a very special day of rest. We see that in the book of Hebrews. I'm not going to turn there at this point. So God lists, and whenever God says something, and it's the first thing that He talks about, now obviously when you're putting together a list, something's got to come first. But I think there's a special reason, as we've made mention, that God puts the Sabbath first. Notice in verse 2, speak to the children of Israel. He didn't say the nation of Israel. He said the children of Israel. So the Sabbath is a very special time where our Father wants to share time with His family, with His children. Just as you love to spend time with your children, or your grandchildren, or your family. So God says, speak to the children of Israel. Speak to my family. And He talks about the feasts of the Lord, of the Lord. Secondly, in verse 2, He says, these are my feasts. And in verse 3, He talks about a holy convocation. It is the Sabbath of the Lord. So several times, the Sabbath is referred to as God's. It's not the Jews, it's God's special holy time that He shares with His family. Now, let's turn over to Genesis 2. Genesis 2. I don't know if we've taken note of this, but I've taken note of this and wanted to bring it to your attention. Genesis 2, 3. And then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all of His work, which God had created and made. Notice very carefully, three distinctive acts, how the Sabbath was made. Three things in that one verse. That God, number one, blessed the seventh day. Number two, He sanctified that day. And number three, He rested on that day. Now, these are three distinctive acts that God performed. No other day was so blessed. No other day was so sanctified. No other day did God rest. Now, by way of contrast, let's take a look at Exodus 20. Let's take a look at the Sabbath command, Exodus 20.

Exodus 20, starting here in verse 8. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all of your work. So that first day of the week is a work day. That first day of the week is not a day that God rested. It's not a day that God sanctified. It's not a day that God blessed in the way that He blessed the Sabbath day. It's a work day. Verse 10. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work, you nor your sons nor your daughter. Notice, family being mentioned of right away. Nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger, nor your elder servant, nor your son, nor your brother, nor your husband. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and all of us in them. All those other days were work days. And He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. So notice in verse 11. We see that God rested, God blessed, God hallowed. Much like we saw in Genesis chapter 2 and verse 3. That tells us something, doesn't it? That tells us the beauty of what God has created for us, His family, for us, His children. Let's take a look at something else over here in Romans chapter 4.

Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter 4 and verse 15.

Because the law brings about wrath, for where there is no law, there is no transgression. Brethren, no law as you appreciate, no there is no law ever given enforcing the keeping of Sunday.

No law at all. Where there is no law, there is no transgression. So as Christians, the Sabbath brings us great joy. We don't have to wait for just three times in a year to assemble together, to appreciate one another, to worship God properly, to be among God's people, to be among our brothers and sisters spiritually. The Sabbath brings us a great deal of joy. In a world where we rush here, we rush there, we're in the rat-wait race, God says, I'm giving you a day every week, the seventh day, for you to pause. For you to pause, and especially for you to pause, to worship me, to worship God. Without a need to rush, we find a very special day to rest. A very special day to listen to what God has to say in his Word to Bible. We don't feel a need to rush to work, fight rush hour traffic, take our kids to school first, then fight traffic, and then go to work, and all the things that happen at work, and then go through rush hour traffic coming to pick up the kids and go back home, or to a daycare, or whatever it is that we do. We've got time to rest. We've got time to pause. We've got time to think about the Scriptures. The studies we want to take, sometimes we think, I just don't have enough time. But on the Sabbath, God gives us the time. He gives us the time to look into his Word for our personal Bible study. He gives us, as we heard in the sermonette, the Sabbath service. And I don't know about you, I'm sure I do speak for you. I was looking forward to being here today, because I've not seen some of you in about a month, from the time just before the feast. I went early to Wisconsin Dells to get things ready, and I think I left middle of the month. And I was thinking last night, I was laying in bed, you know, before falling asleep, how good it was going to be to be here with my brothers and sisters. And you probably were thinking the same thing. Now, some of you were here last week, but for me this is the first time I've been back here to Hinsdale since the feast. Some of you were there in Wisconsin with us, but just thinking about your names and your faces and your personalities and all that you add to the local congregation, I was really looking forward to seeing you and being back with you, my brothers and sisters. We have time. God gives us pause to spend more time talking to God in our prayers, to meeting with God's family. So let's drill down a little bit. Now, I'm going to overlap with something that was said in the sermonette. Thank you, Michael. So I don't need to spend a lot of time on this because he did a very good job with it. But let's take a look. Let's go back to Leviticus 23.

Leviticus 23.

Starting here in verse 2. Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, The feasts of the Lord, the feasts in the Hebrew, the Moed. Strongs number 4150. The feasts, according to Brown, Driver, and Briggs, Hebrew, Lexicon, the definition for feast is an appointed place, an appointed time, a meeting. So what we have is a divine appointment with God. A divine appointment with Jesus Christ. It's not just any day. Like the other six. This is a very special day that it's a divine appointment with the great God. Verse 3. Again, this was touched on by the sermonette. Six days shall work be done, but in the seventh day is the Sabbath of solemn rest. A holy convocation. And this was touched on very nicely. Micra, strongs number 4744. Vines expository dictionary, and this is where it's good. Mr. P. Zach Davis, some definitions were accurate. These are some things that are also parallel to that. This is from Vines' expository dictionary of biblical words, defining Micra. A public worship service. The word implies a product of an official summons to worship. An official summons. God summons us. Now, the American Heritage Dictionary says a summons is a call by an authority to appear, to come, do something. Now, remember, we're talking about the Sabbath being a family day, a family time. We'll get more into that as the sermon progresses. As a loving parent, God tells His children, children of Israel, in us here in the New Testament times. He tells us what's best for us. We don't know of Him by ourselves what's best, but God as a loving parent tells us what's best. He says, you know, you really have to come to services. Unless you're sick or something like that, you be there. It's a commanded assembly. It's a summons. It's a summons to a divine appointment with the great God. And so we take that very seriously, don't we? Let's move on here to Mark 2. Mark 2. Why is God commanding us so emphatically to be keeping the Sabbath, to come to services? Why does God do that? Again, God is wanting the very best for us. Mark 2, verses 27 and 28. And He said to them, the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath. So the Sabbath, as we see in verse 27, is a very special gift. A special gift that God gives to mankind. A gift whereby we can learn the tremendous lessons of life as taught to us by the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus Christ.

A very special gift. So again, when we think about, boy, the spring holy days are so far away, well, we have the weekly Sabbath. We've got 52 of those, and we can enjoy each and every one. Jeremiah, chapter 10.

Jeremiah, chapter 10.

Jeremiah, chapter 10, verse 10.

He has made the earth by His power. He has established the world by His wisdom. He has stretched out the heavens at His discretion. So the Sabbath is a tremendous memorial of the creating powers of our Father.

The true and the living God. God's design of making the Sabbath was that man will never forget Him. That's why it comes every seventh day. The weekly Sabbath. If people would have gotten into the habit, if you want to use that word, of obeying God and keeping the Sabbath, they wouldn't be doing the things they're doing now. And as you watch the news today, as I watch the news today, every time I end up watching the national news, I think, how's it going to get worse? And then the next day I say, well, how's it going to get worse? The day after the... how's it going to get even worse than that?

But the Sabbath shows us God has a plan. God has a plan for us and the whole of the world. So point number one is the Sabbath is our special weekly appointment with our Father, with God. Very special time, allowing us to pause and to think about Him and our relationship with Him. Point number two. Last point.

The weekly Sabbath provides us, as its observers, with very special benefits. Very special benefits.

You know, brethren, I have not always been in the ministry. You know that. I graduated from Ambassador College back in 1974. I was not hired by the Church until 1984. My first two years out of college, I was a warehouse manager, and then for the next eight years, I was in sales. So I worked just like you out in the working world. And as I was looking for work, as I was looking for jobs, and I did that every so often, you not only look for a job that's a good fit, as you have done, I did the same, you look for an attractive compensation package. You're looking for a certain kind of level of pay, but you're also, especially more and more as time goes along, you're looking for what kind of a compensation package with its benefits. What kind of benefits does this particular job, this particular career, what can I even enjoy in terms of its benefits?

Brethren, keeping the Sabbath has tremendous benefits. And I'm only going to go through a few of them today with you. And you probably can take some time, pause, and think about other benefits that you feel very strongly about. So God has given us a Sabbath benefit package, a Sabbath benefit package. And let's see if we appreciate what He has given to us. We read earlier in Mark 2, verses 27 and 28, about the Sabbath being made for man. Another way of talking about that or stating that is that Sabbath was made for the benefit of man. Sabbath was made for the benefit of man. Now, I've got three distinct benefits I want to discuss. I'm sure there are many, many more than that. This is not an exhaustive list by any means.

Letter A. The Sabbath is a family day. The Sabbath is a family day. Again, we talked about that earlier, how in a daily grind, if we take our kids to school, or we homeschool, there's always so much to do. You know, Mom or Dad or both, got to go to work. And it's just, you know, a lot of fighting with rush hour traffic, fighting at work, fighting to get back home from work, and all those sorts of things. And sometimes we can feel that we just don't spend as much time with family as we would like. And yet, on the Sabbath, the Sabbath ends those rush hours. We don't have to rush off here or there. It allows us to take the time we want with our loved ones. The time we want. Let's go back to Exodus 20 again.

Exodus 20.

I comment on this as we went through it, but let's look at it again. Exodus 20, verse 10. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work, you nor your son nor your daughter. Our sons and daughters, our grandkids, God has designed it to be a family day. A day for us and our kids to enjoy together, to learn about God together.

We see more of that over here in Deuteronomy 6. We'd like you to turn there. Deuteronomy 6.

Starting here in verse 1.

Deuteronomy 6.1.

Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, that you may fear the Lord your God to keep all of His statutes, His commandments, which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, that your days may be prolonged. So again, family is made mentioned. Front and center here. Therefore, hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord your God of your fathers has promised you, a land flowing with milk and honey. It talks about blessing you and multiplying you. Well, how do you multiply? You multiply through family. The Sabbath deals with family. Verse 4, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, when you rise up. On the Sabbath day, take the time, discuss the beauty and the meaning, the depth of meaning of God's law. On the Sabbath day. We drop down the same chapter to verse 20.

Deuteronomy 6, 20. When your son asks you in a time to come, saying, What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, the judgments which the Lord our God has commanded you? Then you shall say to your son, We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. So we teach our kids about the laws of God on the Sabbath day, and we talk about how we are liberated, how we are freed as we keep God's law, the law of liberty. Verse 22, And the Lord showed signs and wonders before our eyes, that great and severe against Egypt, Pharaoh, and his household. Then he brought us up from there, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore to our fathers. God keeps his promises. And the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God. For our good always, that he might preserve us alive as it is this day. Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.

So the Sabbath Brethren is a tremendous family day, a day for us to take the time, enjoy good meals together. That's becoming a lost thing in our American society. Too many times in a family, people eat at different times, but on the Sabbath, we can gather around, sit down, and enjoy one another's company. We can listen to beautiful music. I'll let you define what that is. Everyone's got their own definition of what beautiful music is.

We can enjoy walks. We can enjoy the creation of God. God is the Creator. And we spend time with family. Spend time with family. Now, members of the Mormon Church, Church of the Latter-day Saints, they understand the necessity of this. They set a really wonderful example in many ways along these lines. They have what's called the family home evening. Well, they set aside everything on the family home evening, and they talk about the things of God.

It's a tremendous example. We can follow that example. Now, there's something that I don't know if I brought to your attention in two years I've been here, but let's look at Leviticus 19.

Leviticus 19. God puts two commandments here together, and it's interesting how God does this. And I think it's also interesting what this means. Leviticus 19, verses 1, 2, and 3. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to all the congregation of Israel, and say to them, You shall be holy, for either the Lord your God am holy. Okay, we understand what that means. Set apart. Every one of you shall revere his mother and father, and keep my sabbaths. I am the Lord your God. So here, the fourth and the fifth commandments are listed together. Why is that? Why is that? Could it be because God is seeking to tie in honoring one's parents with honoring our spiritual father?

By keeping the Sabbath, as we honor God, he becomes more real to us. Establishing, developing, maintaining that personal relationship with the true and living God is the most important commitment in our lives. In our lives. And proper Sabbath helps ensure we worship God properly. And so God here combines the thought of family and the Sabbath. Family and the Sabbath. The Sabbath is family time. Now you say, I don't have any family in the church. I don't have any family in the church. Well, it was read to you earlier. Hebrews 10, verses 24 and 25. I'm not going to turn there. And thanks, Mr. Spizek. I appreciate that. How we are to get together on the Sabbath. We're to get together and enjoy one another's company.

So the Sabbath is a family day. Letter B. And I've alluded to this. Letter B. The Sabbath, one of the other benefits, other than being a family day, the Sabbath is a day of freedom. The Sabbath frees us up. Like the Israelites of old, before we kept the Sabbath, we were in bondage to the world. In bondage to doing, to living the way the world lived, with all of its hurts. Not knowing which way was up, not having any particular hope. Without the Sabbath, life was a treadmill of never-ending work, toil, dreariness in so many ways.

But now, we've got a day of freedom. A day of freedom. You know, our work brings us the stress of, you know, as a salesperson, as if, well, in both of the jobs I had. There's plenty of stress. Warehouse manager, you know, especially around Christmas time, I can use that word, I wasn't keeping Christmas. But when I was a warehouse manager serving two different stores, at Christmas time, people bought plenty of furniture as gifts for other people. And, you know, we would have normally two trucks running our deliveries every day, as warehouse manager, to make sure that was taken care of. All the shipping and receiving and all that sort of thing. But on Christmas time, we had to hire extra people. We would not only have just two trucks going out every day, we would have every six or more trucks going out every day. Two-man trucks delivering furniture over the Detroit metro area. And so, a lot of stress. You know, if we don't get those deliveries out, people are going to cancel on us or go someplace else. And they would give us deadlines. I want this, I want this Etigeara, this particular day, or I want this loveseat on this particular day. And we better make it good, or we lost the business. It was back in those days, back in the early, or the mid-70s, Detroit was not doing too well financially. There was double-digit unemployment in Detroit in those days. And, you know, if you valued your job, you worked hard and you got those deliveries out. So a lot of stress. When I was in sales, anybody here who's in sales, some people know the deal there. You better make your quota. If you don't make your quota, somebody else can be hired. They'll make your quota for you, and you're out on the street. So a lot of different kinds of stresses. And yet, the Sabbath, and I know it's hard, I was there. When you're a businessperson or doing things where your job is stressful, to stop that, stop thinking about that on Friday night, I know how difficult that is. Again, I've not always been in the ministry. And yet, God says, I do want you to divorce yourself from all of that. I want you to free yourself from all of that. And I want you to put your mind on me.

My thoughts, my ways, your family, your spiritual family, do that. And you'll be well served. Let's turn to Deuteronomy 5.

Deuteronomy 5, verse 15.

Deuteronomy 5, 15. And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. And the Lord your God brought you up from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

God relates the fact that we were slaves, Israel was slaves, and of course, we were as well. And God has freed us from that life of slavery. The Sabbath is a celebration of our freedom from Satan's world, Satan's way of life, so we can worship and honor God. I would like you to turn to Isaiah chapter 58.

Isaiah chapter 58.

Notice what it says here. Isaiah 58, verse 13.

The mouth of the Lord has spoken. So here we see very clearly that we are to make the Sabbath a delight in not doing our own things. But by way of contrast, let's take a look at the rest of this chapter and learn. Isaiah chapter 1. So God here wants to get their attention because something's not right. Verse 2. Let me read this to you in the New International version. The New International is very good. It's not so good in the New Testament, but pretty good in the Old Testament. Let me read you the New International version of verse 2.

They seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commandments of his God. So what we see here in verse 2 follows verse 1. This is a sham. There is so much smoke and mirrors to the Israelites here. Verse 3. Why have we fasted, they say, and you've not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls and you've taken no notice? Well, does God notice the prayers of the wicked? Is God honored by God in his mercy and his grace can do that, but is he honor bound to do that? No. In fact, the day of your fast you find pleasure and exploit your laborers. So in other words, they were heavy-handed in their fasting. They didn't do it as God would have liked them to do. Verse 4. And a strike with a fist of wickedness. Again, heavy-handed. You will not fast as you do this day to make your voice heard on high. They weren't being heard because of the lifestyle they were living. Is it a fast I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it a bow down his head like a bull rush and a sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast and acceptable day to the Lord? Absolutely not. Not the way they were doing it. So in verses 6 through 12, we see the fruits of a truly godly fast. And then, in verse 13 and 14, God says, This is the way to keep the Sabbath. Now, what do we learn from that? Just as there's a right way to fast and a wrong way to fast, there's a right way to keep the Sabbath and a wrong way to keep the Sabbath. And God tells his people, he tells us as his family, Do it the right way.

You have been set free from this world. Don't allow this world and its thinking to encroach on the Sabbath.

You know, one of the things, brethren, that we are, as a church culture, I'm not talking just about the Chicago church, I'm not that aware of what you do personally in your home on the Sabbath. You're aware. I'm not necessarily aware. But as a church culture, one of the things that has fallen by the wayside is the concept of a preparation day. You know, we're going a million miles an hour until the moment of sunset.

Several years ago, I think I may have mentioned to you, several years ago, we had three of our ladies in the Ann Arbor congregation, they saw in a newspaper that there was going to be a series of lectures at a local synagogue on keeping the Sabbath. And they thought, well, why not go? And so they went for the first time and they said, well, they've got this book. And it was a fairly thick book. And they told me about what they were learning. I said, boy, that really sounds interesting. I said, I'll tell you what, I will pay for all three of you to go to those lectures, bring me a book, and when we're done, let's think about having a ladies' seminar here in Ann Arbor, invite all the ladies from Michigan, and the like, you three, to take and do that seminar. And we did that. And it was just amazing the things that the Jewish community does in preparation for the Sabbath. We can learn from that. We can learn from that. They even numbered their days. One day until the Sabbath, two days until the Sabbath, three days until... There was a countdown. Because the Sabbath was the focal point of their week. We're talking about the Jewish community who really kept the Sabbath in the way that they know to keep the Sabbath properly.

So the Sabbath is a day of freedom. Lastly, last benefit I want to talk about, there are so many more, but I limited to three. My time is running out here.

Let her see. The Sabbath is also a day of remembrance. It's a benefit. It's a benefit to remember. To remember the right things. In Deuteronomy 20, verse 8, I'll quote it for you. Remember the Sabbath day. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

Happiness is a state of mind. One of the shortcomings of our modern society is that we are too rushed to appreciate the good things that God has given to us. Too many times. But on the Sabbath, we can take the time to remember.

To remember who God is. To remember who we are.

To remember the tremendous promises He's given to us. To remember the future He holds out to us. A day of tremendous remembrance.

Let's go back to Exodus 20 again.

Exodus 20.

We've read the giving of the Sabbath command in chapter 20. I want to drop down a little bit to Exodus 20, verse 18. Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, the mountains smoking, when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, You speak with us, and we will hear, but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said to the people, Do not fear, for God has come to test you, and that his fear may be before you, so you may not sin. The idea here is we remember the power of our great God. As we go through life, that's something we really need to appreciate. We remember who God is. We know He's a God of love, but He's a God of tremendous power.

A God of tremendous power. We remember that. That's a benefit of the Sabbath. As I may mention, we remember who we are. Let's go to Exodus 31. You know what I'm turning to. Exodus 31.

Starting in Exodus 31, verse 12. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Surely, my Sabbath, you shall keep. For it is a sign between me and you. Some people think the Sabbath is a sign of a covenant. And when a covenant's gone, the Sabbath's gone. Is that what the Bible says here? No, it says the Sabbath is a sign between me and you, between God and His people. Throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death. For if it does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among His people. Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest. Holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath, he shall surely be put to death. Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. And again, verse 17. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel. Now God already had the Ten Commandments, and yet God issues this very special covenant, a Sabbath covenant. Why? Because it tells us who we are in relation to the great God. We are God's children. We are God's family. It's an identifying sign of God's family. And it's good that we remember that. It's a benefit that we remember that.

Something else we remember, and I've touched on this, it was touched on in the sermon today, not only do we remember who God is, we remember who we are, but we remember who our family is. We remember who our family is. Again, you can put in here Hebrews 10, verses 24 and 25. Who our family is. You know, brethren, you learn a great deal from those fellows who get up here to give sermonettes, split sermons, sermons, but you also learn a great deal from talking to one another. You learn a great deal from one another. This evening, for example, we're going to have our last parenting class over at the FaZe home. And I've enjoyed going, this will be our last session this evening, and I enjoy watching the dynamic as those of you who maybe have got older children and you learn certain lessons and you discuss that with those who've got younger children. And those of you who've got younger children, you know, you've got a lot of enthusiasm and you've been reading all sorts of books and all sorts of things. It's just good to see family interacting that way. And of course, it's good to be here, like we were talking about earlier, the second Sabbath after the FaZe, just to enjoy one another's company.

At the FaZe, I did not know that the one man had terminal cancer. I didn't know that until after the FaZe. But I did talk with Joy Jones and told her how much I appreciated her example. And I talked to her husband, David, who gave the wonderful sermon, how much I appreciated what he said about her in that sermon. You know, those kinds of things, brethren, they're not in black and white, but they're the kinds of things you never forget. You just never forget those things. And that's our family. It's encouraging to be around people like that. Lastly, in terms of remembering not only who God is, who we are, who our family is, but the Sabbath helps us to remember as a benefit what our priorities are. What our priorities are. Now, I don't have time to go through all these scriptures that I've got here. Let me just list them and tell you what they talk about. In 2 Timothy 1 and verse 9, we remember that God has given us a holy calling. Not just any old calling, a holy calling. We are the weak of the world, and yet God has seen fit for whatever His reasons are to call all of us with a holy calling. 1 Peter 2, verses 9 and 10.

We are to remember that we are to proclaim His praises. That's why we have a song service. And again, at the feast, it was just so special to listen to the choir, the octets, the various ones that performed for us, the children. All very inspirational. In Matthew chapter 5, verses 13 through 16, we are to remember that we are the light of the world.

No, we are to be the light of the world to glorify God. Not to glorify us, not to put us in the spotlight, but to be the light to glorify God. Luke chapter 9. I just have three more of these. Luke chapter 9, verses 23 through 26. Luke 9, 23 through 26. We are to remember to take up our cross. Take up our cross and follow Him. And in so doing, we will be a light to the world. In so doing, we proclaim His praises. In so doing, we fulfill our holy calling. And the last two are really combined together. John chapter 4, verse 34. Our food is to do God's work. We're not here just for our own salvation. You know, brethren, as you watched the news this last week and you saw what Hurricane Michael had done in the southeast, you know, I was watching Fox News last night and I saw the picture of, I think it's Mexico City, just to the east of Panama City Beach. They showed before a storm hit, and this is right where the storm came ashore. They showed Mexico City Beach, all the houses, and then after. It's like a giant hand had come and wiped everything away. That city is no more. Now, so far as that last news report I saw, 17 are listed as being dead, but thousands are missing. And they don't know if the missing people are just, they evacuated and can't be gotten in touch with, or this massive storm with the greatest that hit our country has taken those lives. Thousands, they can't get in touch with. So we'll find out in time what happened to those. But our job is to do the work. Because as time goes along, things are going to get worse and worse, and we know what prophecy talks about. And we are family here, but we've got family beyond those doors. We've got literal family beyond those doors, and we've got other human beings, flesh and blood people. God has asked us, He's given us the privilege of doing a work to get the Word to them. We see that. Jesus Christ said that His food was to do the work of God. John 4.34. And John 17.4, again, these two tie together, John 17.4, Christ said He had finished that work. He did what God wanted Him to do. And brethren, when you and I go to our graves, and it's pointed unto all men once to die, let's hope that you and I could say the same thing. I ran the good race. I finished the race. And there is laid up for me a tremendous crown. So brethren, today I know that we have a post-feast letdown, but I wanted to just talk about the weekly Sabbath. I want to talk about how great it is for us to get together on the weekly Sabbath and to enjoy one another. And my two points were that the Sabbath is a very special weekly appointment with God. We don't want to miss.

And secondly, the weekly Sabbath provides us with very special benefits. Let's enjoy those. Let's enjoy those.