Spiritual Disciplines - Sabbath
Notes
Transcript
Spiritual Disciplines - Sabbath or Rest
Spiritual Disciplines - Sabbath or Rest
Rest is found all throughout the Bible. In Genesis 2:1-3 God set a pattern of rest for His people to follow.
So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.
God completed His work and then rested. He did not need to rest because He was tired but because He was setting a pattern for His creation to follow. Humanity, in Adam, had the first day of being alive as a day of rest. There was no work to do, nothing to contribute, simply rest. We were created to rest in what God has done. There work we do is the work of becoming. The Spiritual Disciplines, the becoming like Christ but it comes from a place of rest in what God has already accomplished.
We are have been People.
We are have been People.
I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
The work of our salvation like the initial work of creation is complete. Much like Adam’s first day, it is if God is saying, “I have done it all, now take it in.”
I have homework for everyone this week. Take a picture of yourself that you have or go to the store and print one, and then put it in Bible on one of these verses because that is where you belong. Your place is set and we have to go back and remind ourselves all the time that we are set. We are Have Been people.
Galatians 2:20
Ephesians 2:13
Romans 5:1
Romans 6:22
Romans 7:6
Philippians 3:12
Hebrews 10:10
1 Peter 1:23; 2:24
1 John 2:12
But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
But now, since you have been set free from sin and have become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification—and the outcome is eternal life!
But now we have been released from the law, since we have died to what held us, so that we may serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the old letter of the law.
Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.
By this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time.
because you have been born again—not of perishable seed but of imperishable—through the living and enduring word of God.
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
I am writing to you, little children,
since your sins have been forgiven
on account of his name.
Those who are in Christ are a have been people and we must always return to a place of rest where we remind that we have been brought near to Him.
Sabbath or Rest is a gift
Sabbath or Rest is a gift
So because of this, we can and should rest. Sabbath or rest is a gift from God, Jesus’ says,
Then he told them, “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.
So, what does the Bible talk about when it talks about Sabbath? I think it is important to remember that the idea of rest is a holistic idea. That means that rest is supposed to be something that affects and touches every area. it should be something that is life giving to our whole being.
In our modern world that has been affected by the industrial revolution and the need to constantly produce more and more that does not happen or mean much but that does not change the fact that we were called to rest and called to allow the earth to rest.
Failure to rest is Resistance to God’s rule
Failure to rest is Resistance to God’s rule
Did not my hand make all these things?
“You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit. As your ancestors did, you do also.
Resistance to acknowledging God as the maker of all things is rebellion.
When we fail to rest, we fail to acknowledge God as maker and Lord over all things.
We fail to give Him the glory He deserves. Rest is good for us because it acknowledges God, proves faith, and allows us to recharge for the things we need to do. We are called to rest because in resting we acknowledge that we do not control the world and that God is the one in charge of all things.
Sabbath and rest are good, holy, and right.
Let’s look at five important points on Rest.
Rest Helps keep us Obedient
Rest Helps keep us Obedient
For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for God’s people. For the person who has entered his rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from his. Let us, then, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience.
We place this idea of resting in God above all other things because if we do this then everything else lines up.
If we get this right, then everything else falls into place because in resting in God we place all things under His rule and reign and that is what kingdom living is all about.
Everything is already under His rule and reign, but God asks us to intentionally place it under His authority.
This can be salvation where you rest that Christ has truly saved you and you do not need to do anything else to add to what He has done.
This can be resting that God will provide for your finances (not that you don’t need to work).
This can be that God hears your prayers and you can trust Him (not that persistence is not needed).
The thing is that rest and faith go hand in hand. When you rest in God you honor Him, and you have to have faith to do this. If you have faith, then you rest in God because the opposite of that is true as well.
Rest implies work.
Rest implies work.
God says we are to work and rest.
You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the resident alien who is within your city gates.
In the garden Adam was to work and then rest. Work is not a consequence of the fall, but toiling is. If you are only resting, then you are forgetting the half of the equation.
We are called to be people who put in work. Not working for our salvation, working out of our salvation, but work as in contributing to society. Whatever calling you have, whatever you vocation we are called to work. Moreover, we are to be such good workers that it causes people to stop and take notice. Christians should be the best employees in a company.
Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people,
Rest is an act of worship
Rest is an act of worship
The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.”
We often think of worship as singing and that is true but that is only one aspect of worship. To know God is to trust Him and to trust Him is to rest in Him. Rest is worship because it places our focus, attention, and adoration on Jesus. We stop what we are doing, we stop our mental and physcial striving to trust Jesus and place our attention and affection on Him.
A few weeks ago I was busy doing a bunch of different things and I clearly felt the Spirit saying, “Only one thing is necessary.”
When we rest we worship because it is the stillness that He speaks and we communion with our maker.
Rest is an act of warfare
Rest is an act of warfare
The Lord will fight for you, and you must be quiet.”
This is from when Moses and Israelites were fleeing Egypt. They come to Red Sea and nothing else can be done. They are stuck between the water and Pharaoh. On their own they are in trouble, but God comes through.
The word quiet here is ḥāraš (ha rash), and it means to be silent, keep quiet, or cease. God is telling the people they have done what they needed to do and now they need to wait to watch Him work. There was work to do and now they rest and wait.
In the Kingdom of God things are often backwards and upside down. We fight and we win from a place of rest and sabbath. We fight in rest.
Rest fights against the flesh and the desire and feeling that we must do.
Rest fights because it trusts God to move.
Rest fights because it is an acknowledgement that we are not in control.
He causes wars to end throughout the earth.
He breaks the bow and snaps the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
“Be still, and know that I am God!
I will be honored by every nation.
I will be honored throughout the world.”
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us;
the God of Israel is our fortress.
Interlude
What if instead of striving and fighting when difficultly comes we started with resting in God and seeking Him. What if we started in surrender? Restful warfare is surrender to God.
There is going to come a time when God accomplishes everything He has set to do and when He does there will be nothing but rest. Rest now is both trust in that final outcome and practice for what we trust to come.
Rest is an act of submission that demonstrates trust in God
Rest is an act of submission that demonstrates trust in God
Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Leave here, turn eastward, and hide at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan. You are to drink from the wadi. I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there.”
So he proceeded to do what the Lord commanded. Elijah left and lived at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan. The ravens kept bringing him bread and meat in the morning and in the evening, and he would drink from the wadi.
Elijah was told by God to go to the brook and there He would be fed by the ravens. This required Elijah to trust God and submit to His plan. Elijah went and was fed?
Rest is something we do in the natural to submit to God in the Spiritual and often times there are spiritual and natural needs met. When we rest are putting action to our faith that says, “God I trust you.”
Closing
Closing
Rest is good, rest is proper, rest is holy.
Rest Helps keep us Obedient.
Rest implies work.
Rest is an act of worship.
Rest is an act of warfare.
Rest is an act of submission that demonstrates trust in God.
This type of rest is only found in Jesus Christ. If you desire true rest, if you desire true peace that surpasses understanding, then you need to start with trusting Him as your Lord and Savior.